


Truth

by kurasuchi



Category: Gintama
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-15
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2017-12-29 12:36:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 165,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1005534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurasuchi/pseuds/kurasuchi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An annual festival at Yoshiwara creates a chance for Gintoki to learn more about the death of Shouyou-sensei, while Tsukuyo learns about the truth of her abandonment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Taking a break is the same as doing work.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It is owned by the awesome Sorachi Hideaki-sensei, Sunrise and Shueisha.  
> Rating: T  
> Genre: Romance, Tragedy

The streets of Kabuki-cho — like many other districts in Edo, Kabuki-cho is abundant in shops and people, where at one look, it can easily be described as a wealthy place. Mobs of people gather everywhere, women and children roam the streets, garbed in their kimonos, chatting, walking, running, or simply goofing around. Of course, it is also a fact that Kabuki-cho is famous for being a place where all of the weird people gather.

First, there’s a former thief with cat ears, a robot who’s practically a walking reference to Dragon Quest, and an old granny who does give a lot of damn for those delayed rent. Apparently, she’s one of those so-called Four Devas, but who the hell gives a damn anyway.

There’s a terrorist cosplaying and working at random places, complete with an oversized mascot who looks like a cross between a penguin and a duck. Or simply, it was a Renhou, but that was for the mascot substitute anyway.

There’s a good-for-nothing-old-man, a marude dame na ossan, simply called a Madao, who makes the most out of a park and a large carton.

There’s a perpetually-smiling woman whose face was still full of smiles even when she beats up a gorilla-like stalker. Furthermore, it was a policeman, the captain of the Shinsengumi, but she does not give a damn about it anyway.

Then there are the other members of the Shinsengumi: the mayonnaise freak, the prince of sadists, and the anpan and badminton maniac.

There’s also a crossdresser with an eyepatch, together with an overly devoted servant.

There are also the members of the Oniwabanshuu: the ninja with hemorrhoids and the ninja-stalker who had a big crush on the main character.

And last but not the least, there’s also the brilliant, handsome, silver-haired guy with a natural perm whose former alias was the Jouishishi Shiroyasha, together with..

…a Yato girl atop of a humongous white dog named Sadaharu...

..and a pair of glasses.

“OI! GIN-SAN! STOP THAT DAMNED MONOLOGUE, WILL YOU?! AND WHY THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING YOURSELF ‘BRILLIANT’ AND ‘HANDSOME’?! MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHY AM I ONLY A PAIR OF GLASSES?!!”

With that remark, the Yorozuya trio stopped on their tracks. Without paying attention to the bystanders, or to the fact that they were arguing on the streets, they continued on rambling.

“Don’t worry Shinpachi, Gin-chan never forgot your defining feature,” said Kagura, who was happily chomping on a sukonbu. “After all, the equation is _MEGANE = SHINPACHI_.”

“OI!!! CUT THAT OUT! And what the hell am I supposed to be then?!”

“Now, now, calm down Pattsuan,” Gintoki consoled, “I was just stating the truth! Haven’t I told you this before? Look it up on Volume 24, Chapter 203! Shinpachi-kun, your entire existence is made up of 95% glasses, 3% spit and 2% garbage!”

Kagura took the sukonbu off her mouth and wiggled atop of Sadaharu. “Ya~hooo~! Shinpachi! I told you that you’re just a pair of glasses!”

“SHUT THE HELL UP THE BOTH OF YOU! CUT IT OUT!!” retorted the poor boy. He fell silent for a while and adjusted his glasses – his entire existence. “And by the way Gin-san, where are we going?”

Gin-san kept on walking down the streets until he finally stopped. Shinpachi, Kagura and Sadaharu also stopped on their tracks.

“Pattsuan, we’re already here,” stated Gintoki a matter-of-factly.

Shinpachi then stared at the oh-so-familiar spectacle in front of him.

“Oi, Gin-san, isn’t this Yoshiwara?”

Kagura perked up at the sight. She jumped off of Sadaharu and leapt around Gintoki, while clutching around her umbrella with one hand, and a pack of sukonbu on the other hand.

“ _Yatta!_ ” squealed the girl, “we’re gonna visit Tsukky!”

“Kagura-chan, that’s not the point,” interjected Shinpachi. “The thing is, we were walking down the streets of Kabuki-cho earlier, and then suddenly, we were here?! What did we do, did we teleport here?!!”

A smirk formed at Gintoki’s face as he gave his reply. “Now, now, Pattsuan. That kind of thing is common! In fiction, everything just goes ‘KABOOM!’ and ‘CHA-CHING!’ You get what I mean?”

“No,” Shinpachi whispered to himself, “I didn’t understand a thing.”

The silver-haired samurai groaned in response to Shinpachi’s naivety. “Well, that’s simply how it is,” he explained, while moving his hands up in the air for more effect. “Life is like a Dragon Ball, Shinpachi-kun. There are instances where we just have to grab a chance at something, like, totally, _grab_ it, and go _squeeze_ it. I mean, we really need to, there are only seven balls!”

Just as Gintoki waved his hands in the air and demonstrated the “grabbing” and “squeezing” sequence, he then found his hands grabbing and squeezing something big and bouncy. What’s more, it was quite a familiar feeling. The permhead sweatdropped in response.

“Um.. Shinpachi, Kagura? Is this what I think it is?”

The two adolescents in question just stared at him and eyed him suspiciously.

“Gin-chan,” stated Kagura with a deadpan voice, “you’ve hit the jackpot again.”

Gintoki gulped soundly as he became more and more nervous by the second. He then squeezed the “object” in his hands for the second time, checking if his guess was right. His suspicions were confirmed when he felt a dark aura rising from his sides.

“WH—WHAT THE HELL DO YA THINK YOU’RE DOIN’?!!!”

Before Gintoki realized it, he was already on the ground as he was done in by a friggin’ suplex.

“You… you damn violent woman,” he muttered as he massaged his head that was hit on the ground. “Is this your welcome to the one who saved your ass off several times?!!”

Shinpachi and Kagura watched as the aforementioned woman dusted off her hands after performing a suplex on their leader. Shinpachi was the first to react.

“Tsu—Tsukuyo-san..”

Tsukuyo then took a step forward and bowed slightly in greeting to the remaining members of the Yorozuya. “Hinowa asked me to accompany you in your visit. Let’s go first to the shop.”

  **XOXOX**  

“Seconds please!”

Shinpachi glared at the girl dressed in Chinese clothes who was practically eating directly from the rice cooker.

“Um, Kagura-chan? There’s practically no more seconds left – you’ve eaten it all!”

“Shut up, megane. Go suck on your mama’s teat!”

“IS THAT WHAT A GIRL’S SUPPOSED TO SAY?!”

Gintoki glared at the two of them. He then sighed and picked his nose. Here they were, at Hino-ya, and after Tsukuyo accompanied them, she left for a while as she told them that she had other things to do. So much for accompaniment.

He was about to add some comment on Shinpachi’s lame tsukkomi when he was startled by the arrival of a woman bound on a wheelchair, accompanied by a boy whom they saved not too long ago.

As usual, Shinpachi was the first to get over their arrival. He stood up and smiled at them.

“Thanks for inviting us, Hinowa-san, Seita-kun. Uh… well.. May I ask the reason why you’ve invited us here?”

Hinowa smiled. “Well, you see, there’s an annual occasion here in Yoshiwara, and this being the first year since our liberation from the rule of Housen, we wanted to make this as festive as possible.”

“Oi, oi. So… you want us to offer our services and help you guys do the job?” retorted Gintoki, his fingers now picking his ears.

Hinowa’s smile did not falter. “Of course not, Gin-san. The thing is, you guys are our guests of honor.”

“Gin-san, everyone! Kaa-chan says that y’all gonna be the stars of the festival!” chirped in Seita, who even approached the Yorozuya trio. “Y’all gonna be in a show!!”

_A.. A SHOW! GUESTS OF HONOR!!_

That exact, same thought crossed the minds of the three as Seita then went back to his mother and asked her, “Kaa-chan, you said that they’ll be our guests of honor, right?”

Hinowa smiled in return and gave a small nod. “Yes, my dear. What you’ve said was true. Gin-san, everyone,” she said as she faced the three, “Please enjoy the festival that Yoshiwara had prepared for you.”

The three were overjoyed. Of course, Gintoki was happy about it too. He absolutely loved festivals, as he was allowed to do fun things for free, and the other stalls were absolutely cheap. And if they’re the guests of honor, then surely, there’ll be more than what meets the eye..

“Gin-san… uh..Gin-san?”

Gintoki was startled in his thoughts as he noticed that Hinowa approached him. Probably, judging from her actions, this festival thing had another purpose.

“What is it?” he asked. Hinowa replied with a hand gesture, asking him to come over. Gintoki then leaned his ears closer so he can hear what she was about to say.

“If it’s okay with you, I want you to bring Tsukuyo to the festival with you guys. I want her to have fun.”

Gintoki grumbled for a moment. “Huh? Why? Why would I do that?! No way, she’s a hassle, no way.”

“Oh please, Gin-san. She’s been working nonstop these past few days. She deserves a break.”

“And I deserve a break too,” grumbled Gintoki. _Damn! And to think that he was supposed to go and have fun at a festival!_

“Well, I’m sure that with these, you would be convinced.” Hinowa then flashed some coupons, which includes a free entrance and playing at the nearby pachinko parlor, and a free eat-all-you-can card at a sweets store in Yoshiwara.

Gintoki’s eyes bulged for a moment as he relished at the sight. Freebies! He absolutely needed this!

“Deal,” he smirked as he grabbed the coupons and placed it inside his kimono.

“Oh, and another thing Gin-san,” started Hinowa, as she noticed that Gintoki was about to leave. “In case you didn’t notice, we think that Tsukuyo might have a crush on you.”

“WHAT?! No friggin’ way. There’s no way in hell that violent and grumpy woman would ever have a crush on me.”

“And what gave you the idea that I have a crush on you, huh?”

A kunai then came flying to his head. Thankfully it was one of her toys, or else he would have died on the spot. However, Gintoki was startled by the sudden reply that he didn’t notice this, and he eventually turned to face its owner, only to see Tsukuyo herself.

“Ya big narcissist. I ain’t got a crush on ya, got that?”

Gintoki laughed sarcastically. “Haah – of c-course I know. You won’t ever have a crush on me. Hahaha..”

Fortunately for him, Tsukuyo ignored his presence immediately as he noticed that she was busily chatting with both Hinowa and Seita.

He then took a glance at both Shinpachi and Kagura. Kagura was busy dancing and yelling to herself, practicing her speech and acting what she would do on the night of the festival. At least, that’s what he deduced from her actions. On the other hand, Shinpachi, as plain as he could be, was in the other corner of the room, practicing one of Otsuu’s songs with that ugly voice of his.

 _They surely are into this_ , he thought, and smiled to himself.

_This one’s gonna be a long day._

 

  
**XOXOX**

  
It was a full moon that night – perfect for occasions such as this annual festival at Yoshiwara. The streets that were commonly filled with lights from sexual establishments were replaced by colorful lanterns and shops, filled with delicacies and stalls common to every festival in Edo. The courtesans who were usually dressed in luxurious furisode were now dressed in lighter yukatas, their faces free from heavy makeup. Even the members of the Hyakka wore the same clothes, obviously embracing their womanhood.

Mobs of people roamed the streets, clearly relishing the event to its fullest. If one had to ask a person who went there before the death of Housen, they can only say one thing: everything changed. The population in Yoshiwara was now not only limited to women; men had also settled there, some of them starting their own family in the underground. From an outsider’s perspective, it can be clearly seen that Yoshiwara was slowly becoming a fine town on its own. Moreover, this same thing was observed by a certain silver-haired samurai as he crossed along the streets, studying the place with his dead, fish-like eyes.

“Man, a lot has sure changed in here,” grunted Gintoki, whose free hand was now scratching his head, while the other holding some Mitarashi dango. “It’s getting more like any other town by the day.”

“Well, that’s because we, the Hyakka have been doing our job well. It’s hard to suddenly change our old lifestyle, but if it means to have our own liberation, then protecting Yoshiwara won’t just be enough. We need to be free from all our ties to our former lifestyle.”

Gintoki looked at the corner of his eye at the woman beside him. She was still garbed in her usual outfit, with only a piece of kimono serving as her coat from the cold evening air, and with only half of her hair tied up at the back of her head, unlike her usual hairstyle. Sure, she’s breathtaking, but she’s still as grumpy as ever. He sighed in response.

“Man, of all people, why would I be stuck on such a festive occasion with a grumpy woman like you? I can’t even get some booze if it’s like this.”

“I share the same sentiments. I’d rather waste my time having fun with the others than being stuck with a man like you,” retorted Tsukuyo, who remained rather uninterested, or rather, unfazed by his comment. She crossed her arms across her chest and held out her kiseru, its smoke coming out of her lips.

Gintoki heaved a deep sigh. _Of all people_ , he thought bitterly, _why would I get stuck with her?_

He knew that Hinowa made this as another excuse to give her a break. He knew that even she deserved to have a break. And he knew that of all the people she knew, he was the one most suitable for the job – after all, he was made into her toy the last time he went to Yoshiwara. And he did not even forget the prank that she and the other girls did in order to stop him from drinking. He was still bitter about that, actually.

However, he did not like the fact that the two of them were separated from Shinpachi and Kagura as they trailed off the streets of Yoshiwara. It was the four of them originally, but much to his dismay, the two were caught off-guard by those traitorous stalls which offered an eat-all-you-can contest, and a limited edition DVD of Terakado Tsuu’s new variety show. Before he knew it, the two of them were left alone in a flash.

He idly wondered about Hinowa’s request earlier that afternoon. How was he supposed to make her enjoy herself?

He knew that booze was out of question, as he never wanted her to touch anything with alcohol content. Man, he never wanted to become her victim ever again. But.. then what? What should he do?

He took notice of the light trail of smoke coming from her kiseru. He felt a small chuckle down his throat.

“Man, you really like your smoke, don’t you?”

“Well, of course I do. And you’re still the same as ever,” replied the girl, who was still as indifferent as before.

Gintoki’s eyes wandered off the stalls once more, wondering if there is even something interesting that they could do. There were many stalls in here: a shooting stall, a fish scoop stall, a food stall, a gambling stall – there’s so many things they can do. But what?

And then, an idea crossed Gintoki’s mind.

“Oi, oi, Tsukky,” called Gintoki, as he told her to come over with a hand gesture. Tsukuyo then took a step closer to him.

“And since when did you call me that? As I recall, I have never permitted you to call me like that.”

Gintoki grunted in response. “I can call you whatever I want. But here, look at this,” he told her as he pointed to a shooting stall. “I guess you know how to play that game, right?”

A vein popped out of her head animatedly. “Are you taking me for an idiot, Gintoki? Are you even serious? You know what I can do with my kunai, right?”

“Of course I know that. Don’t take me for an idiot. What I’m saying is that we should have a contest – the one who gets to win most of the prizes in all of these stalls wins.”

“A contest? Won’t that be a tad too easy for the both of us?”

Gintoki just smirked in return. “Of course there’ll be a catch. Or else it’ll be too boring.”

 

  
**XOXOX**

  
“Hey guys, check out that stall. Two demons are practically wiping everything out!”

“Dear customers! For God’s sake, I’ll go bankrupt!”

“NOT YET! YOU DAMN WOMAN, I WON’T LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU! JUST WAIT! I’LL OBLITERATE EVERYTHING IN YOUR FORTRESS!!”

“OH NO YOU DON’T, YOU PERMHEAD! I’LL BE THE ONE TO CRUSH YOU INTO PIECES!!”

“OH COME ON! LET ME PASS THROUGH THIS ONE! WHETHER IT’S AT MY HOUSE OR UNDER THE SHEETS, I’LL JOIN YOU, JUST LET ME WIN!”

“AREN’T YOU THE ONE WHO WON THOSE OTHER ROUNDS?! ACTUALLY I DON’T CARE WHETHER IT’S AT YOUR HOUSE OR UNDERTHE SHEETS, WE’LL JUST SETTLE THIS AT YOSHIWARA!”

Gunshots filled the air. One shot. And another. And another. One after another, and until it became uncontrollably wild. The bystanders can only watch in awe as they stared at the two combatants who practically wiped out all the prizes at the poor shooting stall, and were now just trying to knock out the prizes which were taken by the other.

Actually, this poor shooting stall was not their first one. This would be their tenth stall, and of course, it wouldn’t be their last.

When Gintoki brought upon the “declaration of war,” they suddenly rushed off to the closest shooting stall and practically wiped out everything, leaving the poor stall owner on the verge of tears. Then, they tried another. And another. And another. Not being satisfied yet, they went on to other stalls, such as the fish scooping stall and the like. Gintoki idly remembered the flush that appeared on Tsukuyo’s face when her scoop broke, just as when she was about to get her fifteenth goldfish. Of course, he did not miss to give his look of triumph, complete with his infamous deadpan snarking. After wiping out the entire stall’s merchandise, they proceeded to the other one.

This same process continued on as they jumped from one stall to another. However, despite their concentration on their newfound rivalry akin to that China girl and that Shinsengumi sadist’s rivalry, Gintoki cannot help but to observe Tsukuyo at the corner of his eye. He smiled to himself. _Looking at her now, she’ll be just like any other girl,_ he thought warily. _I guess my plan was a success. She seemed to be enjoying herself now._

Sure, her tongue was still vicious and her smug face still appeared from time to time, but that didn’t matter. For Gintoki, she was having the time of her life. After all that she had been put through, this may be the only time she laughed so hard or acted like a little kid, not actually caring if she’s the leader of the Hyakka, or being the so-called “Courtesan of Death.” Even after all those declarations of giving up her femininity, she was still a woman all along. She couldn’t deny that fact. After all, didn’t she get so messed up after doing that “puff-puff” action with him?

Gintoki’s thoughts trailed off one after another as he and Tsukuyo walked the streets of Yoshiwara, looking for something fun to storm into.

“I guess Hinowa’s plan worked after all, huh?”

“Huh?” asked Gintoki. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m only saying that your plan worked. I had fun.”

Gintoki grumbled and scratched his head lightly. “Of course you did. I was the one you’re with after all.”

Tsukuyo, who was walking in front of him, stopped on her tracks and faced him, a sincere smile plastered on her face.

“I just wanna say thank you, that’s all.”

Gintoki just stared at her at the moment, his mouth agape, his eyes fixed on her, as if he was mesmerized by her for a second. He didn’t know what happened. She just caught him off-guard.

He smiled back at her. “I didn’t know you were capable of such actions.”

“Well, I did now, didn’t I?”

“I guess.”

Gintoki waited for her reply but it didn’t come. She just continued on walking, her back facing him, her head moving left and right from time to time, as if she was wary of something.

But Gintoki, being the lazy ass that he is, didn’t take heed of this matter as he groaned to himself.

“Well, I guess keeping you away from all those booze did the job. Seriously, just stay away from those things, okay? And how come you had such a low tolerance for alcohol, huh? I can’t even drink in peace now! Geez, and here at festivals, all I wanted was to take a sip out of my sake and gaze at the beautiful moon..”

He then noticed that Tsukuyo was looking suspiciously at everywhere in sight, akin to a warrior on a lookout for his enemies. He frowned.

“..Oi, are you even listening to me? What the hell do you think you’re doing? And I thought you’ve said you had fun! Oi!!”

Tsukuyo only gripped his arm and pulled him closer to her in response as they walked away from the main streets, only to go down towards a dark, deserted place – a dark mini-forest, to be exact. A trail of sweat trickled down his face.

“W—wait a second here.W-w-where the hell are we going? What are we supposed to be doing there? Oi! This isn’t what I think this is, right? I am wrong, right?!”

“Shut up for a minute, Gintoki. Make a noise and I’ll kill you.”

“M-make a noise? What are you talking about? Why would I make a noise? If you’re referring to that, you’ll be the one who’ll be making a lot of noise! Oi… oi…!”

They then stopped on their tracks. Gintoki was about to continue on his ranting until he saw Tsukuyo remove her kimono. He froze on the spot.

“O-oi. W-w-why are you taking your clothes off? Are you finishing your job as a courtesan? Oi! I know that we didn’t do anything like that the last time I was here because you’ve been beating me up senseless, but I ain’t ready yet for that kind of beating! Are we supposed to do it here? OI!!”

Tsukuyo only fixed her hair into its usual hairstyle, her kimono long discarded on the ground.

“Ano.. Tayuu, don’t take off that piece of clothing you have left, okay?” Gintoki nervously said, obviously pointing out to her usual attire which she still hasn’t taken off. “Tayuu deserves her experience to be in the main halls of Yoshiwara, right? Not in the woods, right? Have some respect for the title Shinigami Tayuu! Oi! Tsukuyo-sama!!”

“I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP, GINTOKI! THEY’LL FIND US AND I CAN’T DO MY WORK HERE!!”

“Work? You mean.. work? As in that kind of work?! Oi! Let me go back there! Some wacko girlie here’s gonna rape me! Kagura! Shinpachi!! OOOII—”

He stopped ranting off when he noticed a kunai cross his head and hit a tree. He gulped soundly and turned to face Tsukuyo.

“P-please be gentle with me…”

“WHO’S GONNA BE GENTLE WITH YOU?! STOP THINKING PERVERTED THOUGHTS DAMMIT! I JUST BROUGHT YOU HERE IN ORDER FOR YOU TO SEE THIS!”

“What?! You’re making me see your @#$3 and @#$@#?! TAYUU-SAMA, YOU’RE SO NICE!”

Smack!

Gintoki can only massage the bruises he received from Tsukuyo’s beating as he managed to convince himself that there’ll be no kind of intercourse happening that night.

“Then tayuu, what would your reason possibly be supposing you’ve brought me here?”

Tsukuyo then pointed to a suspicious truck wholly covered with a dirty cloth. He heard its engines roaring, so it must’ve meant that the truck was about to leave, and it was occupied. Either way, it is too suspicious. So that’s what she meant, huh? Then why the excitement earlier?

Gintoki responded with a lazy grunt. “Oi, oi. I thought this was your free day? You’re obviously working again, aren’t you?! What are they, thugs exporting illegal drugs? That kind of business again?”

“Sssh! Quiet!”

“You damn workaholic.. And here I thought I can enjoy a festival in peace..”

Tsukuyo glared daggers at him, which made him startled. “What?” he inquired, “Got a problem with me?”

“Look very closely,” she stated, and pointed to a man carrying a big thing covered in cloth across his arms. Gintoki observed closely and saw that what he was carrying was a beat-up woman, probably a courtesan at Yoshiwara, and she was slid silently inside the truck. Gintoki can only gape in shock.

“W-what is this?”

“Probably women slave trade,” explained Tsukuyo, who was now holding some kunai on her hands. “Despite us having our own freedom, some of our women were still chained by the traditions of the old Yoshiwara. Though it is a fact that men have to pay a dowry in order for a girl to be free of her chains out of this place, this is not necessarily true.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“As what I’ve explained earlier, the women of Yoshiwara are free to go as they please. However, there are still men, or worse, our own women who treat other courtesans as merchandise, and sell them as slaves to other factions. Even during the rule of Housen, this kind of thing exists.”

“So, you mean those women were abducted?”

“Yes. And I also presume that it is beyond their knowledge, since they were obviously knocked out. Based on our investigations, women who were sold to Yoshiwara were brought here by that faction as well. They go by many names, but they are most likely a small group of merchants who were former members of the Sonnou-Joui faction.”

“Sonnou-Joui faction? T-that’s..”

“Ya know something?” asked Tsukuyo, who was kinda bothered when she noticed that Gintoki was somehow disturbed upon hearing the words Sonnou-Joui faction.

Strange enough, hearing about the Sonnou-Joui faction did ring a bell at Gintoki’s thoughts. Yes, he was a former Joui, and there were different factions back there. Somehow, that faction made him feel a tinge of nostalgia – it’s as if he heard that somewhere before, long, long ago, but he cannot remember it anymore.

But he shrugged it off anyway; it doesn’t matter, especially not now.

He was a _samurai_. He followed his own bushido – it was against that code to just turn away when there’s someone in trouble, and especially when they’re helpless women.

He stood upright from their hiding, earning a gasp from the girl behind him. Jouishishi or whatever, he doesn’t give a damn about any of that. He knew what he needed to do.

He took a step forward and took his bokuto out of his belt, the characters for Touya-ko clearly being reflected by the warm moonlight.

He was about to assail his attack when he was stopped by Tsukuyo.

“What do you think you’re doing? I didn’t bring you here to do this,” she stated, her worry for the silver-haired man clearly showing off on her face. “We should observe first, when they let their guard down, we’ll attack.”

“Let their guard down? Don’t you dare underestimate me. Have you forgotten who I am?”

Tsukuyo was at loss for words. He is right, after all. He’s the savior of Yoshiwara; he’s the one who freed her from the chains of her master, Jiraia. And besides, why did she even bring him here? Wasn’t it to help her free her family from their sufferings?

She smiled in return. _I believe in you, Gintoki._

“And besides,” added Gintoki, “These guys already noticed us and were about to attack us anyway.”

“Well then, at least allow me to fight alongside you, Savior-of-Yoshiwara-sama.”

“Che. I bet even you alone can handle these weaklings alone,” he stated flatly, and marched forward. Tsukuyo followed him suit.

They then attacked those suspicious men unconscious; with Tsukuyo using her skills with her kunai and Gintoki with his sword mastery, they are undefeatable. The fact that these grunts were complete weaklings did not help either. They just hit and hit and hit…their screams only echoed in the darkness.

The people inside the truck used the ruckus to their advantage and sped away.

“Tsukuyo! Take the women away! I’ll handle this!”

“Got it!”

Tsukuyo gathered all the women in the place in a hurry and told them to go away from there. The girls ran without hesitation.

Tsukuyo bit her lip. “Shit. If only I had the Hyakka in here, this would be a piece of cake.”

She was about to run towards Gintoki when she heard the screams of a woman whose neck was just a few centimeters away from a thug’s knife.

“Please.. help me! I don’t wanna die!”

“If you don’t want this girl to die,” the thug stated nervously, “then surrender to us.”

Tsukuyo smirked in return. “As if. Don’t underestimate me, you bastard.”

She marched on and was about to assail the man when she felt a bullet hit her knee.

_Damn it! They had guns!_

She threw her kunai towards the gunmen and hit them, their guns dropping off the ground. But it didn’t end there. An army of bullets rushed its way towards her, but she blocked it away with her kunai. However, one managed to hit her in the stomach. She then took the knife away from the thug and slashed him with it, making the unrestrained victim scream her lungs out and run away.

“That’s good. Run as fast as you can,” she whispered and was about to go and find Gintoki, but she was caught off of her tracks when she felt an electric jolt rush through her body. She collapsed.

Stun guns. _Shit._

Gintoki, who was still chasing the truck, also fought some armed men a while ago and used their guns to shoot the truck’s tires and make it immobilized, even for a second. It was a good thing that the truck didn’t manage to move fast due to its heavy load, and when he was about to open the truck’s door, he saw a bloodied Tsukuyo being carried down by the thugs. He then used his bokuto as a lever as he hit the driver unconscious, and jumped off the immobile truck.

“TSUKUYO!!”

He attacked and fought the thugs, all of them ganging up on him. But he easily defeated them with just a clean, straight hit, and in a matter of seconds, almost all of the enemies were knocked out. Gintoki headed straight for the man holding Tsukuyo, knocked him out and was already heading out as he held Tsukuyo’s unconscious body in his arms when the enemies’ reinforcements suddenly came. Gintoki was about to fight them when suddenly they encircled him and Tsukuyo and at the same time, they rushed up on him.

It didn’t matter to Gintoki if there were even thousands of people attacking him, as he would persevere through it all. However, like what happened with Tsukuyo, he was caught off guard as all of them carried weird-looking things on their hands, and all of them hit him with it all at the same time.

 _Stun belts._ All of them used their stun belts to knock him out, but they failed. Gintoki pierced his bokuto through them and swatted them away with one hand, his other hand supporting Tsukuyo in his arms. But it was endless. There are others who got out of it again and attacked him with it, and when he was about to repeat what he did to them earlier, a bullet pierced through his hand, making him drop the bokuto in reflex and making him helpless the moment it fell down with a thud.

The thugs attacked him all at the same time again, Gintoki was about to fight back, but it was too late. His hand went numb and all of a sudden, he felt an electric jolt rush up through his body.

He fell on the ground, dragging Tsukuyo with him.

“..Y-you bastards..” he breathed, sucking for air.

The last thing he knew was that he and Tsukuyo were brought inside the truck, the sound of its engine filling his ears. He then lost his consciousness as the truck sped off its tracks, and went out of Yoshiwara.


	2. Not all strangers that you meet should be ignored, and not all pretty women that you meet should be hit on.

_He was alone._

_He was always alone. And now, it happened again. His heart ached, his stomach grumbled, and yet, here he was, all alone. He had no one to share things with; he had no family to turn in to, and most importantly, he did not even have any friends. No matter where he was, he was alone – just like the corpses in the battlefield, the place where he was right now._

_The calming sight of the settling sun made the young boy seem out of place in this wonderful spectacle. He mused that if anyone were to stare at it, they would be delighted at the sight, but unlike them, it only made the ache in his heart more painful. He can only stare at it, and in turn, take a bite on what he supposed was something edible._

_He watched silently at the hundreds of crows gathering upon the flesh of the dead patriots, their rotting bodies lying lifelessly on the ground, serving only as food for those ferocious carnivores. And yet, he went on munching on what he supposed was an onigiri, and continued on sitting on one of the corpses, with a sword clutched in his sides, even as the heap of bodies around him had katanas unsheathed and pierced upon their flesh, their blood drying up in the cold, humid air._

_His lazy, crimson eyes reflected nothing. He…felt nothing._

_His silver locks were now dirtied by mud and blood, his tattered clothes being in the worst position, and yet, he didn’t give a damn._

_As long as the war continued, his life would always be the same. It will never end._

_Here he was… and he was alone._

_“Only a demon could eat peacefully while surrounded by corpses..”_

_Startled, the silver-haired boy cocked his head, only to meet face-to-face with a man with long, flowing locks of hair, carrying a face of a man full of wisdom, and a determined pair of eyes that has even managed to break the lifelessness out of the young boy’s eyes._

_He only stared at him._

_“And how about you?”_

_The man moved forward, as if approaching him._

_“To be honest though,” he added, his hand finding its place on top of the boy’s head. “You seem too cute to be a demon.”_

_The boy, however, swatted his hand away, and immediately grabbed his sword, his hands starting to unsheathe the blunt blade of his katana._

_He expected the man to even flinch a bit at his actions, and yet, here he was, smiling at him as if his actions were no more than a child’s play. True, he was a child, but if he truly wished for it, he could easily cut him down. Why is he so unaffected?_

_Instead, the man only continued on moving forward._

_“Did you find that among the other corpses as well? Hiding here alone among the corpses.. Is that the means you chose to protect yourself?”_

_The boy felt a trail of sweat trickle down his face. This was no ordinary man._

_“I’ll say it – I’m impressed. However…”_

_He shouldn’t let his guard down. He shouldn’t let his guard down, not now, not even to this man._

_“..You’re not using that sword correctly. There’s no meaning in simply wielding a sword if it’s just to scare others and protect yourself..”_

_The young boy was surprised to see the man toss over his own sword to him, not caring what may happen to him as he left himself unarmed. He winced at the weight of his sword – yes, it was heavy, but the thing that made it heavier was the fact that it came from this man. A stranger, a weird one, even – and he gave away his sword to him as if it was the most natural thing to do._

_This action ignited his curiosity. Just what is with this man, that he was able to see him so differently?_

_“This is my sword… go on and take it,” he then trailed off, as he turned his back to him and walked away from him. “If you’re interested in learning more about that blade, follow me. However, from now on you must understand…”_

_The boy can only stare at the man, his eyes that were once filled with nothingness now filled with life._

_“The blade is not to cut down your enemies.. nor is it to cut away your own weaknesses. A sword isn’t meant to protect your body; a sword.. is meant for protecting your soul.”_

_Hearing these words, the young boy felt himself move from his position, his stolen onigiri and blunt katana long discarded on the ground. He did not know what he was doing, actually. He just felt his own body move towards that person – towards the person whose soul seemed to dazzle amidst the rotting corpses on that battlefield. He had never seen such a person before… and yet, even so, what is he doing? Why is he not attacking him? All his life, he had seen so much bloodshed, so much sorrow, so much pain.. The Amanto were ruthless, the samurai were overwhelmed, and he was caught up in it all. And yet, here he was, not only was he talking to him and giving him words of wisdom like an old sage, but he even gave him his sword, his only protection, and what’s more, he even invited him to come with him!_

_That man… was different. He felt his heart at ease when he talked to him, despite being a complete stranger. And now, he was walking behind him, following him as they cross this battlefield filled with corpses of both humans and Amanto. He did not know what was wrong with him for following this man. The only thing he knew was that somehow, he felt that if he followed that man, he could find peace. If he followed that man, then he could find something valuable in his life._

_If he followed that man, then he could make his life more meaningful, and he would be able to find what he was looking for._

_The young boy kept on following him, until he stopped._

_“It seems that you are willing to join me now, I suppose?” inquired the young man, earning a small nod from the silver-haired boy. The young man took notice of the boy’s appearance, sensing the change in his blood-red eyes. He smiled._

_He then patted the boy’s head, and ran his fingers through the boy’s naturally-permed hair. “I’m glad that you have opened up to me. I’m Yoshida Shouyou, but you can call me Shouyou-sensei if you like. All of my students call me that.”_

_Shouyou..sensei? So, he was a teacher then? That explains why he carried such an aura._

_“What’s your name, little boy?”_

_The young boy in question only stared blankly at the young man, as if he did not even know what he was supposed to say. The teacher was about to speak when he was surprised to hear a small sound coming out of the boy’s lips._

_“…kata… Gin… to..ki..”_

_The young man furrowed his eyebrow as he became curious on what he was saying. He squatted down and leaned closer towards the boy, his eyes still focused on the crimson orbs that the child has._

_“I’m… Sakata.. Gintoki…”_

_“So.. you’re Gintoki-kun, huh?” replied the young man, who then stood up with his arms outstretched. Before the boy knew it, he was already on the young man’s back, carrying him in a piggyback._

_Gintoki felt at ease at Shouyou-sensei’s warm, broad back. He tightened his hold around his neck, not too much in order not to strangle him, but just enough to make him assured that he won’t fall out of this man’s back. He rested his head on his shoulder, and listened contently at the sound of his breathing._

_And for the first time that day, he smiled._

_Content with the warmth that his new teacher had given him, Gintoki finally relaxed himself on his sensei’s back. He felt the dawn of sleep rush up on him and even though he tried to fight against it, his efforts were futile. He felt sleepy, yet he still wasn’t asleep at all, so he listened to the young man’s footsteps against the ground._

_He breathed in slowly, his tiredness getting its way out of him._

_“Gintoki-kun,” the teacher suddenly spoke, “you are not alone anymore. I know that I am not in the position to pry at your past, but whatever it is, always remember that you have your comrades with you, that you have people who care about you, and people who will care about you.”_

_The silver-haired boy, though half-asleep, was touched by his sensei’s words. Being tossed in the battlefield for all his life, it was the first time that he was ever comforted with such nice words. But the thing is.. should he really trust this man? Yes, he felt at ease with Shouyou-sensei, but due to his experience, he knew that he shouldn’t trust others too easily. However, faced with his kindness, with his compassion, with his warm words… Gintoki was at a loss._

_“No matter what the circumstances are, stand tall and fight it head on. Do things at your own pace. Stand up to what you believe in. Be guided by your own heart – I know that it must’ve been hard on you, but you’re not alone, and always remember that. From now on, I’ll be here.. I’ll support you in everything, and in turn, let us watch each other’s backs.”_

_Gintoki could not help himself as his eyes brimmed with tears upon hearing his teacher’s words. Sure, it was clichéd, but it really did help him ease the pain in his heart. He didn’t have any friends, or a family, but if he’s with Shouyou-sensei, he felt that he can finally have that – the thing that he’s been wishing for all his life._

_“I am here for you. And soon, you’ll have friends who’ll be waiting for you. Whether you’re a man or a woman, it isn’t a shame to shed tears when you’re in pain. Cry all you want – it’s alright. You’re not alone anymore.. you are not alone.”_

_Gintoki let his tears fall freely on his cheeks, his teacher’s clothes now damp with tears. At that moment, he felt as if it were fate to let him meet this man, as from this point forward, he had a newfound direction in his life._

_He decided that even when he gets old, he will never forget that moment, he will never forget that day, he will never forget that man, and he will never forget those words._

_He would always keep them in his heart, until the day he dies._

 

**XOXOX**

  
“Nnnnn.. mfghmmmmmph… nnnnnn…”

The lone voice rose through the darkness as a young man in his twenties scratched his eyes with a huge yawn. He tried to open his eyes, but it won’t budge.

It has been quite a time since he dreamt about that incident once again. The last time he recalled that memory was when he fought with Jiraia, but somehow, even though dreams of his past kept on haunting him, he did not give any damn about it. He would deal with it when the time comes.

He scratched his head in annoyance. _Open, my damn eyes! Open!_

Seeing that his eyelids have finally budged, he opened his eyes and took a look at what he assumed was the ceiling. He can’t see anything clearly, the lights were out… _Did Kagura play with the circuit breaker again?_

He was about to pick his nose when his hand accidentally touched his cheek. It was wet.

Was he crying? No friggin’ way. Why was he crying?

He then remembered that he had a dream. A dream.. about an incident that he would never forget. He.. well.. he was.. was..

Eh? What was the incident about again? What was his dream about again?

_I.. can’t remember..!_

Then… then why was I crying? Don’t tell me I’ve gone all gay that I’ve been crying in my sleep! What am I, a brokenhearted maiden in love?

Gintoki grumbled in annoyance as he noticed that his futon was gone. Did he sleep on the floor? He’s still at Yorozuya Gin-chan, right? Sure, they had gone to Yoshiwara yesterday for a festival, and then they were escorted home by a truck, and what’s next? He would wake up on a very hot room with no lights – wait, was it a blackout? – and then realize that he slept on the floor and not on his comfy futon, and then find out that he’d been crying in his sleep? What an annoying morning! And he didn’t even have his daily sugar intake today! He needed sugar to function properly, dammit!

Scratching his head in annoyance, he turned around only to meet face-to-face with the sleeping figure of a girl whose face was covered with scars, but nonetheless, was still beautiful. The sight of her made him freeze on the spot that he was unable to make any sound.

_WHY… WHY IS SHE ON BED WITH ME?!_

_DON’T TELL ME THAT IN MY JUMP, I’VE FRIGGIN’ PASSED THE K-POINT AGAIN?!_

“O-oi. Tsu—tsu- Tsukuyo,” he started, still shocked at the situation, as he sat down and nudged the sleeping girl. “Tsukuyo! WAKE UP! OI!”

He nudged her once again, but to no avail. The girl didn’t seem to be waking up, and Gintoki gulped nervously. What the hell did they do last night?

He fumbled with his chest, only to feel something weird. It wasn’t his clothes, so based on experience, it can only be bandages. Panicking, he fumbled for his clothes down there, only to find that he was still wearing it. He sighed in relief on the fact that nothing happened between the two of them last night, and he felt even happier that Tsukuyo still had her clothes on.

“What an awful morning,” he grimaced, stifling a yawn on his hand as he looked at Tsukuyo’s sleeping form. “And you...how can you sleep so peacefully?”

Her soft, sleeping breaths were her only reply to his one-sided question as Gintoki continued to observe the sleeping girl beside him.

Lots of things happened, and somehow, he could tell that Tsukuyo was exhausted from yesterday’s events. Her breathing included small gasps and occasional heavy breathing, but all in all, she was having a nice sleep.

True, the girl was always grumpy and serious, but when it came down to it, she can express herself more freely – and looking at her now, her face flushed from the heat of the room, trails of sweat trickling down her face, her moist lips moving ever so slightly at her breathing… was it still the same violent woman who made him her personal punching bag upon a single sip of alcohol? Was it the same woman who wanted to be on equal terms with him? Was it the same woman who abandoned her femininity in order to protect Hinowa and Yoshiwara?

From his point of view, she looked like any vulnerable girl in her sleep.

He smiled.

_She was…_

“Sa.. Sakata-dono?”

That sudden call cut him from his thoughts as he looked around to see who the speaker was. He then found a young woman wearing quite a plain-looking yukata, sitting at the other end of the room, her hands holding a flashlight, her black orbs and black locks of shoulder-length hair illuminating in the dark.

From the looks of it, she was a member of the Hyakka.

“Who are you?” inquired Gintoki, his mind still hazy from the lack of daily sugar. “What are you doing in my room?”

“R-room? What are you talking about? You’re—”

“Wait,” he butted in, “I’ve never met you before, so how come you’re here in my room? How did you get in here? And besides, how come this grumpy girl’s on the bed with me? I’ve got enough of stalkers, oi!”

“Sakata-dono, you’re completely mistaken, you’re not in your room right now, you’re in—”

“Don’t tell me you’ve got the hots for me, too? Have I really become such a bachelor right now that I’ve got girls fawning over me?”

“Sakata-dono.. You’re not in your room, and you’re not in Yoshiwara either.”

“What? You gonna say something?”

“I said that you’re –”

“Wait, what? Come again? I think I’ve just heard it wrong. You said that I’m not in my room, right? That’s impossible! I’m in my room,” Gintoki trailed off, his hands now roaming across the floor. “See, here’s even my JUMP collection, I knew I just left some before I went out.”

His hands continued on searching the room despite the lack of decent light. He moved his hands on everything within his access, but to no avail. He gulped soundly as he realized the lack of JUMP within the area, as well as the fact that he was not in his room, but somewhere else.

He shrieked.

“Where am I? I mean, where are we? What the hell happened? Why am I with this woman? Why am I half-naked and covered in bandages? Why the hell is it so dark in here? OI, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?”

The black-haired woman can only give an awkward laugh in response to their savior’s eccentricity. Sure, she heard rumors about his bizarre and lazy life, but she could not put her finger on the fact that this was still the same man who saved Yoshiwara twice not so long ago.

“As what I’ve said earlier, Sakata-dono, you’re not in your room, and you’re not in Yoshiwara either. I don’t know where we are exactly right now, since we’re inside the enemy’s truck.”

“Truck? What are you talking about? There’s no truck in here!”

“We’re inside it, Sakata-dono. Please, calm down, you’ll wake them up..”

“I know that! But what are you talking about?” asked Gintoki, whose right hand was now scratching his silver-permed hair. “What truck? What enemy? There’s no such thing as – OOOOFFF!!!”

All color was drained out of him as he realized what exactly happened that it even made him flinch loudly. He looked down _there_ , checking if his manhood was still intact—since due to experience, that was the one that takes all of the bad effects—but alas, it was, and at the same time, it wasn’t.

It was grabbed by a vicious hand, his only joystick still on its firm grip, despite the presence of his clothing. Being a man, he knew how painful it was, and it was made even worse when that hand holding his joystick held the grip tighter, as if to crush it, and pushed it down with full force, dragging his body along with it. It’s as if his thing was an alarm clock that needed to be pushed down in order to stop its noise. And hell for alarm clocks, it seemed that the wielder of that damned hand had a grudge on it!

“W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MY *****?!”

“Uhnnnn… damn alarm clock, it won’t stop on ringing… I still wanna sleep..”

Gintoki looked down at the wielder of that damned hand – the hand which now had finally freed his thing from its vice grip—and was shocked to see that it was the blonde kunoichi, grumbling in her sleep about alarm clocks and whatnot.

_Of all people.. why her? OH FOR THE LOVE OF STRAWBERRY MILK!_

“Please do not be alarmed, Sakata-dono. Kashira was just used on waking up by an alarm clock, and because of that, she developed a deep hatred for it that whenever she hears it ring, she hits it with such full force,” said the black-haired girl, which, in Gintoki’s opinion, was really a member of the Hyakka, as proven by the fact that she had referred to Tsukuyo as kashira.

Still, that statement wasn’t enough to convince him. It hurt like hell, damn it!

“Alarm clock? What about alarm clocks? Does my voice sound like a ring of an annoying bell to her? Does my ***** look like a pair of ringing bells to her?”

“Well, both had a pair.”

“That’s not it, dammit! I said that it’s damn unnecessary! She didn’t have to grab it as if she was crushing it! Does she really hate the ring of alarm clocks too much? That’s playing too dirty!”

“We had to keep up with the same level of dirtiness as the original. Hence, _this_.”

Gintoki was about to give his reply when he was surprised to see that he was struck by a kunai on his forehead. He turned around, finding a half-awake Tsukuyo, her hand brushing her eyes as she sat groggily.

“You’re too loud, Gintoki. You haven’t even given me some decent sleep,” said Tsukuyo, who now sat upright, her hand fixing her hair which had been a mess from her sleep.

Gintoki removed her toy kunai from his forehead, and settled it at the ground. “Decent sleep? I say you’ve had too much sleep that you haven’t even noticed how poor your alarm clock was! How many alarm clocks have you bullied in your lifetime, huh?”

“Alarm clocks? Well, I absolutely despise to hear it first thing in the morning, but I still use it from time to time, since I needed to get up early. Speaking of alarm clocks, I think I used one this morning.. but come to think of it, where are we, Gintoki? Weren’t we unconscious back then?”

“Well, thanks to your hatred for alarm clocks, I think I may have gone back to my senses. But more importantly, don’t you even remember what the friggin’ thing you have done? You were about to crush my one and only joystick, you damn woman! ”

Gintoki can only grumble in annoyance as he noticed that Tsukuyo did not even take heed of his comment.

“Kashira, I’m glad to see that you are awake now. Are you alright?” inquired the black-haired member of the Hyakka, the both of them ignoring Gintoki’s cries of anguish about his beloved joystick.

“I’m okay,” replied Tsukuyo, “more importantly, where are we now? I suspect that we are inside the enemy’s truck, is that right?”

“Yes, we are. Kashira and Sakata-dono were both unconscious back then, and the two of you were brought inside here.”

“I see. That makes sense. But, how come you’re here? As far as I can remember, Gintoki and I had freed all the women inside the truck.”

Gintoki, who now stopped on complaining about his abused screwdriver, had taken Tsukuyo’s question with full attention. “Come to think of it, Tsukuyo’s right,” he then asked, “how come you’re in here when I’ve freed all the women inside?”

The black-haired girl only smiled in response. “I am not someone suspicious, Sakata-dono. I am also a member of the Hyakka, and my name’s Azumi. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Savior-of-Yoshiwara-sama.”

“There’s no need for such a nickname, is there? And besides, it’s pretty much a fact that we ganged up on Housen, I didn’t defeat him alone,” replied Gintoki, who had pretty much calmed down, compared to his situation earlier. The pain down there subsided too, he supposed.

He crossed his arms across his chest and sighed. “And besides, who are they?”

“I think I’ve already explained to you the facts, Gintoki. Don’t you remember? I told you that before we even fought them,” said Tsukuyo, her gaze now focused on him.

“Yeah, and all I’ve got were the women slave trade and the Sonnou-Joui faction. I didn’t even know who was behind all of this.”

“Well, that’s what we’re going to find out, Sakata-dono,” replied Azumi, “and to answer your earlier question, I just saw you and Kashira fighting those Sonnou-Joui rebels. I was about to help when I saw the both of you being knocked out, so I just went inside the truck since I deduced that the two of you are going to be brought inside, the both of you need medical attention anyway, and besides, I think being captured is the best way to observe their actions.”

Tsukuyo smirked at Azumi’s words. “I thought the same too, that’s why I was easily captured.”

Gintoki can only gawk at Tsukuyo’s remark. _Easily captured? Weren’t you beaten up and badly wounded back there?_

“I thought so too, that’s why I quickly went inside the truck.”

“That’s good to hear. And I’m sure you’ve thought the same way too, right, Gintoki?”

Silence filled the area. Gintoki can feel the tick of every second becoming heavier as it passed by since he just fell silent, not knowing how to answer.

_But hey— really? I’m the only one who took that fight seriously? Well, not too seriously, but still… really? I’m the only one who didn’t think of that? I…_

“O-of course I did. It was too damn hard to act being defeated, damn it!”

_No, I didn’t! I was really overwhelmed by those electricity jolts! Damn it all!_

“The problem we have now is— how can we escape here? I know that we needed to keep an eye on them, that’s the reason why we got ourselves captured,” stated Tsukuyo, her worry for their own safety clearly shown on her face. “But we shouldn’t stay on enemy quarters for too long. Sooner or later, we need to get out of here.”

“Wouldn’t it be easy if we just knock out the driver and make him spit out all the details?”

“I think that would be impossible,” replied Azumi, “I think the best option would be going out here right now. We are completely outnumbered by them, and they are armed. They don’t even use katanas now.”

“Well, they ain’t samurai. But you’ve got a true samurai right here, don’t worry.”

“Except that what you’re using is a friggin’ bokuto,” blurted Tsukuyo, “anyhow, I think that the best option we have is to wait until this truck stops on moving, since I think they’ll take a stop on their quarters. Once they did, we’re going to beat the hell out of them and scram.”

Gintoki can only give Tsukuyo a cold look. “And do you actually think that would work? And how are we supposed to get out of here? Supposing that they’ll really stop at their quarters, I bet they’ll just keep us inside if they had plans of disposing us, or maybe, they’ll bring us to their quarters and finish us off there. Either way, it ends up with us getting our necks severed.”

“Sakata-dono’s right. If we were to follow Kashira’s suggestion, then we should have at least a feasible plan in order to escape from them unharmed.”

“I.. uh—well, you’re right about that. But, what can we possibly do?”

Gintoki’s eyes scanned the surroundings despite the lack of decent light. He can’t think of any plan at all, so he supposed that if he looked hard enough, then he might be able to find something that they can use in order to escape. Finding none, he was about to give up when his eyes caught on something.

It was a large, white bottle, with the characters for sake written on it. He smirked in delight.

“Well, we don’t have to worry anymore,” stated Gintoki, his grin still evident on his face. “I have a plan.”

His statement caught both Tsukuyo and Azumi’s attention. “What is it?” asked Tsukuyo, “what can your plan possibly be that it made you that confident?

Without much a second thought, Gintoki stood up and walked towards the bottle, grabbed it and placed it in front of them. “This,” he then said, “is my trump card.”

“H-hold on. Isn’t that sake? What are you trying to do, Gintoki?”

Before Tsukuyo can even realize it, he then passed the bottle to her, much to her confusion. She raised an eyebrow at him. “What? Why are you giving this to me?”

“Drink this. All you need to do is to drink this and we’re out.”

“What? No way, the last thing I’ll do during a mission is to get drunk. There’s no way I’ll ever do that.”

Gintoki was about to respond when he felt the truck stop from moving. From his perspective, they were already on the enemy quarters, and sooner or later, they’ll find them there, so it was the best time to start his plan— to unleash the hidden monster within.

“Just,” he started, and grabbed the bottle of sake and forcedly chugged it on Tsukuyo’s mouth, “drink this, you damn woman!”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Sakata-dono? K-Kashira’s going to—”

“Shut up there, you!” wailed Gintoki, his hand still holding the bottle as a drunk Tsukuyo continued on chugging it without any hesitation. “You haven’t seen anything yet! I choose you, Tsukuyo! Go for it!”

_Gulp.. gulp.. gulp.._

_Hic… hic.. hic…_

“K—Kashira!!”

“G-Gintoki… you,” said the blonde kunoichi, while she finally felt the liquor kick in, driving her into her drunken stupor. “DON’T YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT, YOU DAMN BASTARD!!!”

Gintoki flinched at the girl’s ferocity. He tried to slowly crawl away from her, but to no avail. As soon as she got hold of the bottle and tossed him aside, chugging the whole bottle in and leaving it without a single drop, she got on her knees and stood up, slowly approaching him while she made those hiccupping sounds, and stopped when she was just a few inches in front of him. She then grabbed his head, and stared at him face-to-face.

“You’ve got some guts there, huh, you permhead? Do you want a piece of me, huh? What? You want me?”

“O-oh, i-it’s not like that, Tsukuyo-sama. I just thought that some sake would be perfect for you, since you’re such a nice girl.”

“Of course I’m a nice girl! And you’re a jerk! Hey, why are you looking at me with those eyes, huh? What, you’ve got a crush on me now, huh?”

“I told you it’s not like that, Tsukuyo-sama—”

“What? So you think I’m ugly? That no one would ever have a crush on me? That no one would treat me as a woman because I have these scars on my face?”

“This woman is so freakin’ annoying when drunk! Aaaaah, if only we didn’t get stuck in here, I won’t ever let you touch another liquor again! And besides, why are you focusing on me? Haven’t I told you that you’re not ugly? So shut up, dammit!”

_“Pfft… hahaha.. ahahahahaha.. hahahaha…”_

Both Gintoki and Tsukuyo stopped on their tracks as they heard the irritating laughter coming from below. Their irritation increased in spades as they saw that it was no other than the other Hyakka member, Azumi.

“I—I can’t take this anymore, hahahaha.. I.. I never thought that Kashira would be like this.. and the way she acts around Sakata-dono.. and Sakata-dono’s reactions… it was.. really.. I just.. can’t… hahahahaha!!”

Azumi’s laughter only irked the hell out of Gintoki that he even approached her and glared daggers at her. “Oi, oi. Why the hell are you laughing? Is there something funny? Is there something funny with me being your Kashira’s punching bag, huh?”

“N-no, it’s not like that.. I just thought that you kinda have that M-streak in you, you know?”

“Oi, oi. What M? I’m not an M! As far as I can remember, I am a complete S! A complete sadist, do you hear me? Hell, you can even ask my stalker if you want! Go and ask that masochistic Sacchan just how much of a sadist I can be!”

“But.. that beating is kinda self-inflicted, you know? If you haven’t—”

“Oi, oi, Gintoki. You’re replacing me with that woman? I thought you’ve said that I’m not ugly? Isn’t that a proof that you’re in love with me? Then, you’re my fling, do you hear me? Don’t mess with other women other than me!”

“Oi, oi, you drunken woman, I never said that I’m in love with you! Hey! I don’t wanna be a fling either! Anyway, just stop this, dammit!”

Tsukuyo just ignored him as she proceeded on inching closer towards Azumi, her death glare ever-so-present. Gintoki tried to stop her from approaching the poor Hyakka member, but he was greeted by a hard punch on the face instead.

“And who the hell are you in Gintoki’s life anyway? Don’t you dare mess with me! Gintoki’s mine!”

“No, I’m not owned by anybody!”

“Kashira, you’re hugely mistaken, I wasn’t—”

“That’s enough, you damn woman!” Gintoki then retorted, as he quickly went in front of Azumi when he noticed that Tsukuyo was about to punch him, “I only have my eyes reserved for the weather girl, Ketsuno A—”

He was unable to continue his ranting as Tsukuyo gave her megaton punch. Luckily, he and Azumi dodged it, leaving the poor truck wall on its destruction. Gintoki smirked in delight.

“I told you we’ll be able to get out of here,” he said, giving Azumi his troll face.

“Is.. is this person still our Kashira?”

_CRASH!!_

As the remnants of the truck’s wall lay lifelessly on the ground, Gintoki and Azumi hurriedly went out of the truck, with a drunken Tsukuyo quickly chasing them behind. As soon as they reached the ground, they took in their surroundings and observed, minus Tsukuyo who was still in her drunken stupor.

A small house was in sight, which, from the looks of it, was the faction’s main house on that area. That fact only strengthened their belief that they really are at their quarters.

The loud sound coming from the truck took the attention of the grunt Joui and though Gintoki and the others were pretty much left by themselves when they went out, Sonnou-Joui members quickly went out one after another, surrounding them. Just like the other group back in Yoshiwara, the grunts were armed with guns and stun belts.

And to top it off, the number of Joui surrounding them was twice as much as their fight earlier. Surely, they were at a disadvantage. But…

_Hic… Hic.. Hic.._

A drunk, blonde woman with some booze on one hand was quickly irritated by the sudden increase of people in the area. Behind her stood a silver-haired young man and a young girl with shoulder-length hair, cheering the drunken woman as she looked at the Joui rebels in disgust.

“You bastards,” the drunken courtesan then said, “are you making fun of me, huh?”

“Oh, we’re not, neechan. How about you? You’re so drunk, neechan. Want me to pour a glass of sake for you?”

“Aaah? You want a piece of me? Hate to break it to you, but I’m owned by that niichan over there,” replied Tsukuyo, as she pointed out to Gintoki with her finger. “If you want a piece of me, go and defeat him first. And be sure to bring me his skin, okay?”

“Why the hell are you bringing me up, you damn woman? And why are you going to peel off my skin, huh?”

“Shut up, you permboy! Anyway, back to business,” she replied as she then faced the Joui members, “I am really irked by your ugly faces, you damn bastards. If you’ll allow me…”  
  
Before they knew it, the rebels were defeated all at once as Tsukuyo unleashed hundreds of kunai like a madman, with Gintoki and Azumi dodging it as they also fought against them. The silver-haired samurai then slashed his way out using his Touya-ko, and the remaining Hyakka member used her prowess as a well-trained shinobi on defeating the rebels. However, they were overshadowed by the drunken kunoichi as she went on wreaking havoc upon the quarters.

The grunts were no match to the Courtesan of Death when she is in killer mode.

 

**XOXOX**

The ticking of the clock seemed to move slowly as Shinpachi moved his eyes left and right, alert for the sight of the silver-haired samurai or the blonde courtesan. He sighed in frustration for the umpteenth time that day; there was still no sign of them coming back.

It was just a few hours – and for them to disappear like that, it’s really impossible. Though Gin-san may just go anywhere he pleased, he just wouldn’t disappear like that. He would tell them his whereabouts, he’s sure of that. But now, for him to disappear like that, and with Tsukuyo-san too… what could’ve happened to them last night?  
  
True, maybe he and Kagura-chan were partly at fault, since they left them on their own devices last night. But… he never thought that it would escalate into this— he never thought that they would actually disappear without a trace. It was already late in the afternoon, and they still haven’t known where they have gone to. They’ve asked every stall and establishment in Yoshiwara, they’ve asked all the people who could possibly see them, but to no avail. Even the pachinko parlors said that he didn’t go there either.

Though there have been rumors that there have been a brawl that happened last night at an uninhabited area in Yoshiwara, he still wasn’t sure about its authenticity, so even though they immediately rushed to the site upon hearing the rumor, they still had doubts about it. Gin-san and Tsukuyo-san were not the types to engage on petty brawls, he was sure of that. However, things would be different if that was a different issue..

“Shinpachi, we’re coming in,” said Kagura-chan, whose anxiety about Gin-san’s disappearance clearly visible in her demeanor. She was accompanied by Hinowa-san and Seita-kun, both of them looking very tired as they’ve searched the whole place looking for Gin-san and Tsukuyo-san.

“Shinpachi... has Gin-chan arrived yet?”

He can only smile weakly as a way of consoling her. “There’s no sign of them arriving yet, Kagura-chan. Though don’t worry, since it’s Gin-san after all… he would be fine.”

_Still, even though I may say that… I just can’t help but worry about them._

“But Shinpachi, Gin-chan was.. Gin-chan and Tsukky— they were—”

“W-what is it, Kagura-chan? W-what about Gin-san and Tsukuyo-san? What happened?”  
  
“I heard from one of the Hyakka that both Tsukuyo and Gin-san were defeated by some unknown faction last night,” said Hinowa as she faced Shinpachi with a serious look in her eyes. “They were heavily injured, and apparently, they were abducted to some unknown place… they’re in danger, Shinpachi-kun.”

_Gin-san and Tsukuyo-san… defeated? T-that’s… that’s impossible!_

“H-how can that happen? How can they be abducted..? The idea.. is just.. absurd…”

“Kaachan, will Gin-san and Tsukuyo-nee gonna be alright?” asked Seita, whose hand was still clutching Hinowa’s wheelchair tightly. “They’ll gonna be fine, right?”

“They’ll be fine, Seita. Gin-san’s with her. Let’s believe in the one who had saved Yoshiwara – in the one who had saved us.”

 

  
**XOXOX**

  
“Sakata-dono, how’s Kashira? Is she awake now?”

Gintoki can only heave a deep sigh as he continued on trudging his way across the woods, with an unconscious Tsukuyo on his back. “She’s still asleep,” he then replied, “Never mind that, are you sure we’ve gotten away from them? From the looks of it, we’re still on their quarters.”

The other Hyakka member can only continue on running, recklessly finding her way out of what she supposed was still a parcel of land owned by the faction. “Maybe you’re right. However, we still can’t be sure of that. And besides, we’re quite far from the main house, so we can only go on moving forward.”

“Well, if you say so.”

Only their footsteps resounded as they continued on running away from the quarters, with Gintoki making his way out with wide, heavy steps, as the sleeping courtesan on his back shifted her weight on his back. He was carrying her on a piggyback, and he didn’t seem to mind the increased weight on his shoulders as the only thing that occupied his thoughts was on how they could escape from there, and make it back to Yoshiwara.

The fight earlier seemed to be in their favor, with most of the rebels being wiped out by a drunken Tsukuyo. Their numbers decreased in spades, and from the looks of it, one could conclude that they have beaten all the enemies in the area. However, the tables were turned upside down as backups from the main house arrived one after another, and to make matters worse, Tsukuyo passed out, leaving Gintoki and Azumi on their own devices. Seeing that fighting them would only waste their time, they quickly ran away to the woods, with the freelancer carrying the passed out kunoichi on his back.

“Nnnn… uhnnn…nnnnnnnn…”

The sounds made by the sleeping blonde woman just seemed to ring on Gintoki’s ears as he continued on running. She moved a bit and tightened her hold on him, but he didn’t seem to mind as he just let her sleep peacefully. After a few minutes, the girl finally went back to her senses, and was surprised to find herself being carried by the silver-haired samurai.

“G-Gin..toki?”

The man in question then noticed that Tsukuyo had finally woken up. However, he still kept on running, not even loosening his hold on her. “So, you’re finally awake, huh? Got a hangover?”

“I.. I guess,” she then replied. Still surprised at the situation, she tried to process what was happening until she finally realized that she was really being carried by Gintoki. “H-hey, l-let me down, I can manage by myself,” she embarrassedly said. “You don’t need to carry me.”

“But it’s faster like this, isn’t it? What, you don’t like it?”

Her cheeks were tinged red from his words. “Eh? I-it’s not like that, you idiot! Put me down!”

Seeing that the girl would only continue on pestering him if he did not comply with her wishes, he stopped for a while. Tsukuyo then came down, her hand quickly finding its way on her head as she felt the dizziness rush through as soon as her feet came into contact with the ground.

Seeing the commotion behind her, Azumi finally looked back, and found a conscious Tsukuyo.

“Kashira! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” replied the girl, her body adjusting itself from her hangover. “Just.. go on. I’ll join you afterwards.”

Gintoki can only look at Tsukuyo at the corner of his eye. “Oi, oi. Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

“You’re still dizzy. I don’t mind carrying you— it’s much faster that way.”

“I said I’m alright! Just keep on going!”

Both Gintoki and Azumi were proven wrong as Tsukuyo really managed to get a hold of herself, quickly catching up to them on their tracks. With that, they have come into a conclusion that she can get over her drunkenness as fast as she can get drunk with a single sip of alcohol.

The three of them only continued on running, until they caught the sight of a man with flowing, shoulder-length auburn hair. The man sat on one of the trees, as if he was relishing the sight that Mother Nature has given him. Gintoki, Tsukuyo and Azumi can only stop on their tracks upon seeing that man.

This was the Sonnou-Joui faction’s quarters, and even though they were already far from the main house, it is still quite surprising to find someone frolicking in the woods. They wondered about the man’s identity, or if he was a faction member as well. If he was, then they’re in big trouble.

However, nostalgia was the one that rushed through Gintoki upon seeing that man. He could not put his finger on it, but he was sure that seeing him from a certain distance made him feel as if it was not his first time meeting him, that he had seen him before, and that he had known him for a very long time.

He felt his heart beat faster on his chest. Sweat trickled down his face. That man…

That man… was very much like his _sensei_.

“Who are you?” the man then asked, prompting the other three to inch closer to him.

Gintoki looked at his two other companions. They seemed wary of him, and at the same time, quite indifferent. As the distance between them got shorter, Gintoki then managed to sneak a peek at the man.

He observed him at the corner of his eye. Upon a closer inspection, though he may look a little like his sensei, he was nothing like him at all – those dark eyes, that haggard face – he looked and felt so little like him, it made his earlier thoughts seem like a cruel joke. However, much to his dismay, the feeling of nostalgia that he had once felt was suddenly replaced by an ominous feeling – it’s as if there was something in that man that he did not really like. Upon hearing that man’s voice, he was certain – there was something about that man that he ought not to know.

“We’re just travelers who got lost in these woods,” said Gintoki as indifferent as he could manage, as he tried to convince himself not to get too distracted by the ominous feeling induced by that certain man. “We don’t know how we got here, you see.”

“I see. It appears that you don’t even know your way around here.”

“Uh, Ojisan, can you tell us if the next village is near, and what path should we take in order to get there? We’ve been around here for hours you see, and we’re looking for a place that we can stay,” said Azumi, her hands finding its way on her waist.

Tsukuyo, now completely sober, walked forward and approached the lone man. “Sorry to impose on you, but we’re completely desperate. We’re quite exhausted from our trip,” she then said. “Is there an inn for guests around here somewhere?”

Gintoki could only feel his blood rush through his veins as he saw that the man, upon seeing Tsukuyo, was certainly surprised at the sight of her, and he seemed to look at her from head to toe. He can only stare at her that he even fell on a short pause. It was akin to a man seeing his sworn enemy commit a heinous crime, albeit differently. The way he stared at her, the look in his eyes, his damned expression – all of which seemed to depict that the way he looked at her was certainly different from what he had bestowed them.

This act disgusted Gintoki. His ominous aura was one thing, but leering on one of his friends was another issue. And it certainly was not leering – it felt like it was something else completely.

The man only smiled in return. “There is. Well, follow me.”

The three of them can only follow the man as he walked across the woods, trudging a path not similar to the one they’ve gone onto earlier. Gintoki sighed in exasperation. He still had doubts about that man, especially since a combination of his sensei and an ominous aura did not do well for him. Still, even though he cannot help but be confused at his gut feeling, he supposed that it was a better choice to follow him than do nothing. Maybe he was just overreacting, after all.

With the two Hyakka in front of him, he continued on following the said man as they crossed the path to what the man has said was a small hut. That man explained that the hut was built in order to accommodate travelling guests, and that it was not much farther than there. Much to their surprise, the man even managed to invite them on staying the night there. Seeing no other options, the three of them agreed.

Their walk to the small hut was put into a halt as the said hut was already in sight. The man then faced the other three, and grabbed a set of keys from his hakama.

“Here are the keys,” the man said with a grin, “be sure to take good care of the house while I’m gone. By the way, I’m the caretaker of the house, but unfortunately, I need to go to the next village to restock and hence, I need to leave these to you. Can I ask you for that favor?”  
  
“B-but wait, we’re only here up until morning,” replied Gintoki, “and besides, this is an inn, right? How much would we pay?”

“Normally, I would charge you for staying there, but since I asked a favor from you guys, then the night would be free. I would be back by the morning, don’t worry.”

Hearing the words “free” made his heart leap in joy. Surely, things that are free are not to be missed – that was one of his mottos. Forget about suspecting him, that man was letting them stay for free!

His two other companions, on the other hand, thanked the man for his kind offer. He then moved away from them, passing through Azumi first, and then, through Tsukuyo. Gintoki, being the last one among the line formed by the three of them, saw the same look which he had given earlier to the blonde girl. He had given one of those yet again to her, as he passed onto her the keys for the hut.

As he walked past Tsukuyo, he then muttered words which can only make her shudder in response.

“You seem to have gone prettier, _Misora_.”


	3. Have a nice talk, find a new freeloader and find a suspicious picture, and tell everyone that it’s troublesome.

The moon shined throughout the night skies, engulfing the earth in its silver glow. It was beautiful as usual; however, despite the fact that it was indeed a marvelous sight to behold, it still cannot lift the looming dark thoughts that continued on pestering the poor girl.

The girl, whose blonde hair seemed to glow amidst the darkness, just stared at the scene in front of her.

It was only yesterday since they’ve left Yoshiwara, but here she was, feeling like an eternity had passed since the last time she was there. She missed it terribly – and even more so, as she was in constant worry about the welfare of the Hyakka, the citizens of Yoshiwara, and of Seita and Hinowa. Seeing the danger that she and Gintoki had gotten themselves into, she feared that something bad must’ve happened to them during her absence. Those people were armed, Joui rebels. There was no telling of the great danger they may have gotten themselves into – she cringed at the thought – and there was also no telling of what would happen to the three of them here in the heart of the forest, in an unknown place, and in an unknown district. One thing’s for sure though: they weren’t at Yoshiwara, and they really need to get out of here.

However, there was one thing that kept on bugging her – that man earlier, who is he?

The thought of that man sent shivers down her spine.

She idly remembered the look which he had bestowed upon her earlier that day – creepy was not even the right word to describe it. What she felt upon his piercing gaze can’t even be expressed in such simple words, and she felt disturbed by the fact that she was the only one who experienced it.

She felt vulnerable under his piercing eyes. She felt weak, she felt helpless, she felt…

..She felt scared. And she had to admit that.

And the only thing that consoled her at that moment was Gintoki’s suspecting stares at that mysterious man.

However, she decided not to be affected, and to remain collected. She was trained that way; she can easily mask her emotions, and she can easily treat everything seriously, even if things weren’t meant to be that way.

Even so, she knew that Gintoki, despite the fact that he had accepted that man’s offer, was suspicious of his actions. One look at him and she can easily tell that he did not like the man a single bit. Even though his actions were a bit weird when they first saw that man, she deduced that whatever he had felt must’ve been replaced by something else, for that matter.

Feeling the sudden urge to puff out some smoke, she fumbled for her kiseru, lighted it for a second, and held it between her fingers. She took it and placed it in her mouth, and eventually puffed some smoke out of her lips. Somehow, the familiar scent of the drug made her at ease, her accumulated anxiousness slowly decreasing in burden. Her eyes still fixated on the silver moon, she broke out a sigh.

The irony was, she mused, that despite the fact that the man gave such a dangerous vibe, here they were, at the inn that he had just gotten them to stay for free.

“What are you doing here outside?”

Startled out of her thoughts, she turned around, only to find a silver-haired samurai at the other side of the veranda, the place where she had been watching the moon all night. Seeing his silver perm bathed in the silver moonlight, she gave a half-hearted smile— half-amused at the sight, and half-curious as to what he was doing here.

“Nothing,” she then replied, “just staring at the sky, as if that’ll give you any interest.”

The man only smiled sarcastically. “Oh, I see then, you’re feeling moody today, huh? What, is it that time of the month? You know, that—”

“—It isn’t. And that’s none of your damn business,” she growled. The last thing she wanted was for him to ruin the only peaceful time she had for that day.

In turn, the man only walked forward, taking his place at the spot beside her.

“What the, Tsukuyo, are you sure it really wasn’t that? You’re being awfully moody today,” he then teased, and looked at the girl beside him. “But still, you’re always so serious, so that may be—”

“Gintoki,” she cut him off, and opted to face him, her eyes boring its way into his. “..Please.”

Seeing the look at her eyes, he grumbled in defeat, one hand messing up his already messy hair. “Alright, alright. Sheesh— and I was only joking! You’re not feeling well today, are you?”

“I’m completely fine.”

Gintoki then stared at her. “Oh? Then what’s the matter?”

Silence filled the night sky as Tsukuyo fell into a complete silence, not knowing how to answer Gintoki’s question. Sure, she trusted him enough, but should she even bother him with those things? She just felt suspicious about that man. She didn’t have to treat it like it was some big issue that needed to be discussed upon.

Should she even bother telling him? Wasn’t she independent enough to mind her own problems?

“You know,” Gintoki started, startling Tsukuyo out of her thoughts, “about that man earlier…”

The shinigami courtesan froze on the spot as Gintoki hit the right nail on the head with his comment. She knew that he didn’t like that man, but she wasn’t sure of that yet. However, she was quite surprised that he seemed to know what was troubling her. He really was unpredictable.

Did he find that man suspicious too? Wasn’t she the only one who felt disturbed by his presence?

Still, she kept her gaze fixated on the silver moon, not even taking heed of the fact that Gintoki was staring at her. “What about that man?” she then asked, “did you notice something suspicious about him too?”

Gintoki nodded in response, and crossed his arms on his chest as if to emphasize his agreement. “Yeah. There really was something suspicious about him..”

Tsukuyo couldn’t believe what she just heard. Was this man an esper or something? It seems that they were on the same wavelength today, to think that he actually thought of the same things as her…

“Y-you did?” she stuttered, “what about it?”

“Yeah. He was _really_ suspicious. I mean, _really._ ”

“Yeah, I know, you’ve just said that earlier. Can you please elaborate?”

“Do you even know what elaborate means?”

“I said it, so I know what it means. Hurry up and spill it!”

Gintoki looked at her again, and took a deep breath. “Okay then,” he trailed off, “don’t get too shocked by what you will just hear.”

Tsukuyo just stared at him in annoyance. What’s taking him so long to say that damn suspicious thing that he found about that man? Didn’t he just—

“—That man earlier. His hair.. it was silver, wasn’t it?”

“So?”

“..And he had a straight perm too. I was thinking that I should grow my hair long like his, and straighten out these annoying curls too. What do you think?”

Tsukuyo, who had thought that she had finally found someone to whom she can share her worries with, was entirely pissed with what just happened. She should have expected this. It was this man, after all.

“..I mean, I heard that there’s a cheap hair rebonding promo on hair salons, and it seems that they can handle this perm of mine too! Oi, oi, do you think that a long, straight perm would suit me just fine? Do you think I’ll be able to find a girlfriend if I made my hair like that? What do you think?”

Instead of an agreement that he was waiting for, he was replied with a hard punch on the face instead, as Tsukuyo punched him to oblivion while she made that poker face of hers.

“I think your current style suited you just fine,” she then replied as she puffed out some smoke out of her kiseru. “I mean, you look great, with bruises and all.”

“WHAT’S WITH THAT? You planning on making me a punching bag, huh? Just because you’re on your period now doesn’t mean that you’ll go on being moody with—”

Before he even realized it, he was already unable to continue with his ranting as he noticed that a kunai had already found its way on his forehead, with blood oozing out like a freaking fountain as he lay flat on the floor.

“H-hey,” Gintoki called out, “what the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you even think that I’m enjoying this? I’m no masochist, dammit!”

“Huh? But didn’t you just say that you wanted to paint this night red? Aren’t you ranting about periods and stuff?”

“I never said anything like that, dammit! Aaah, you’re such a troublesome woman,” he then grumbled, as he stood up and took out the kunai that was still stuck on his head. “Then if not that, then what? What, so you mean that you knew that man earlier? I mean, you’re really chummy with him, aren’t you?”

“What? Chummy? Are you out of your goddamned mind, you permhead? What made you say such things?”

Gintoki, now completely fine and back to his original position beside Tsukuyo, grumbled to himself. “Well, that’s that, you know? I mean, didn’t he even get too close to you the last time we’re with him?”

“Huh? The last time..? What..?”

_The… the last time we’re with him? The hell did he mean by that?_

She tried to decipher what he meant by those words. Sure, that man inched closer to her and said something that completely creeped her out, but why the hell did Gintoki derive something disgusting from that?

  _(You seem to have gone prettier, Misora..)_  


Now that she thought about it, he did say something like that. But, the question is, what the hell did he mean by that? Had he mistaken her for someone else? Who was Misora? And why did she felt creeped out by his presence alone? She had too many questions, but she did not even have any answers. She only felt her head spin in confusion.

Still, there was a nagging feeling in her gut that there was something about those words that bothered her. However, she cannot put her finger on what it was yet. Was it about the way that man said those words? Or was it because of that Misora girl? Whatever it was, she didn’t like it. Trying to stray those things out of her thoughts, she looked at Gintoki, and found him with his hands outstretched, yawning as he proceeded on brushing his lazy-looking eyes with his hand.

Sensing her gaze upon him, he looked back at her. “What? You finally back to Earth? You seemed to be on cloud nine earlier, don’t think too hard or else your brain won’t take it.”

“But I’m sure my brain wasn’t as small as yours.”

“What’s that? You’re saying that I’m stupid, huh?”

“It’s up to you. It depends on your interpretation.”

“WHAT?”

“What?”

The two of them stared at one another, as if challenging each other with their eyes alone. After a few moments, Gintoki looked away, and sighed in defeat.

“Aaah.. _mou_. Okay, okay, you win,” he then said as he scratched his silver curls in annoyance. “You keep on thinking about things seriously. Just relax.”

“Are you belittling me, the leader of the Hyakka?”

He turned to face her and stretched out his hand, and proceeded on patting her head with it. “Just don’t think too hard about it. I’m sure everyone at Yoshiwara’s fine. And besides, with the way things are right now, it is likely that we’ll be able to go back tomorrow. You don’t need to worry.”

Tsukuyo can only stare at him in awe. So…he knew all along?

“Well, I’ll go to sleep now. You should get some sleep too,” he said as he was about to go back inside the room. “Goodnight.”

_..That man… was really unpredictable._

“Gintoki…”

The man in question then stopped on his tracks, his back still facing her.

“..I-it’s nothing. Goodnight,” she then said, and looked away. However, she did not miss to see Gintoki raise his hand in response to what she just said.

With the silver moon still bathing her with its light, she smiled at him.

“..Thank you.”

 

 

  
**XOXOXOX**

The next morning, Tsukuyo woke up to the loud sounds outside the house—she did not know what it was and why such a loud noise happened, but she supposed that maybe Gintoki was playing with something once again, or maybe Azumi was practicing and happened to destroy some parts of the house, which, in turn, was one of her fears. Standing up groggily, she walked forward and opened the shoji, and proceeded to go to the engawa, where she supposed that either one was staying.

As she reached the engawa, however, she was surprised to find neither Gintoki nor Azumi, but a bunch of ugly gangsters—probably the Sonjouroushi, the Sonnou-Joui faction—surrounding the whole place instead, making it impossible to escape.

Seeing all the commotion outside, her grogginess long forgotten, she proceeded on her fighting stance, and shot an ominous glare at those people. “What do you guys want this early in the morning? This place isn’t open yet.”

The Sonjouroushi members, hearing Tsukuyo’s remark, acted more grumpily, with some of them laughing boisterously. “Open? This wasn’t even an inn, you girlie! You invade our turf, and now you even think that you could get away with it? Not even a chance!”

“Yeah! You better—”

The Sonjouroushi member was unable to continue as he noticed that a kunai was now pointed at his throat. The man then looked at the wielder of the kunai, and found a black-haired shinobi whose eyes seemed to pierce through his very soul.

“Azumi!”

“Kashira!” replied Azumi, inching her kunai closer to what she supposed was the leader of their unit. “On your orders please! Shall I proceed on eliminating this man?”

“Oi, oi, neechan. Do you think you can get away with this? Once you’ve struck any of us down, none of you would be able to get back alive!”

“Are you sure you aren’t hallucinating?” asked Tsukuyo, as several men fell on the ground, with kunais stuck on their head. “Do you really think you could intimidate us?”

Just as Tsukuyo was about to continue what she was saying, in that opportune moment the shoji doors near the engawa then opened, revealing a lazy-looking Gintoki with a bag slung on his shoulder, and his pinky on his nose.

“Oi, Tsukuyo, Azumi, look what I found! I found some food, maybe we could have our brea— uhh… what are you guys doing? Flirting? What is this, a goukon?”

“Like hell it was a goukon, you idiot!” snapped Tsukuyo, “Do we even look like flirting here? Do we even look like we’re enjoying this? We’re not enjoying this in the slightest!”

“Sakata-dono! These guys are from the Sonjouroushi! We should eliminate them right here and now, or else, we won’t be able to escape!”

With his hand under his chin in his signature pose, he then went down the engawa, and then on the ground. “Visitors from the Sonjouroushi, eh? Well, well, what do we have here? Aren’t you happy? There are lots of boys here, you two could even build your own reverse harem!”

“Don’t be an asshole, Gintoki! There’s no way that girls would want to have their own reverse harem that consisted of these gorillas! I bet one of them looked like one of the captains from a certain basketball team.. Akagi, wasn’t it?”

“Oi, did she just insult us? Did this woman just call us gorillas? And did she just say that we looked like Akagi Takenori?”

“Kashira’s right, Sakata-dono! Inoue-sensei must’ve had it tough. I mean, Toriyama-sensei and Watsuki-sensei managed to create a hit series without drawing gorillas! I, for one, wanted to have my reverse harem to include Matsumoto Jun, Yamashita Tomohisa, Ikuta Toma, Miura Haruma or Teppei Koike! If you can add Matsumoto from B’z and even Hyde or even Gackt, then I would absolutely be overjoyed! I don’t want my reverse harem to consist of ape-like creatures who are obvious Shimura Ken ripoffs!”

“Oi! What did you just say? Shimura Ken ripoffs? HOW? Apologize to Shimura-san right now! Shimura-san, _sumimasen deshita!_ Wait, that’s not it! Calling us ape-like creatures did not change the fact that you’ve practically called us gorillas! Apologize to us right now!”

Gintoki, hearing Tsukuyo’s and Azumi’s remarks, clapped his hands together as if he just realized something. “Oh, I see. Well then, we should Chage-tize them, right? If we Chage-tize them then they wouldn’t become gorillas anymore! They would just become monkeys, right?”

“OIIIIII!!! You’ve practically changed nothing at all! We still belong to the same species, don’t we? You silver-permed bastard!”

However, before the Sonjouroushi members realize it, some of them were already knocked out and blown away from the impact of the swing of Touya-ko. In fact, this attack had so much force that it even managed to damage some of the Sonjouroushi’s clothes.

After the impact from his attack had settled down, Gintoki swung his bokutou on his back, and gave an evil smile. “No one who messes with me and insults my perm comes home alive. I certainly make it my policy to pay someone what is due.”

“I see. But I heard that you always fail to pay your rent, Gintoki. Was this even applicable to that?”

“That is a completely different story.”

Their conversation was cut short when they noticed that the Sonjouroushi had started to attack them, leaving Gintoki, Tsukuyo and Azumi with no other choice but to fight back. Gintoki was attacked by a man wielding a katana, but he was able to block his attack using his Touya-ko. As the both of them used the force between their clashing swords as a lever in order to move a distance away from the other, Gintoki smirked, sensing delight on the fact that some of them proved to be a decent swordsman after all.

“What the hell’s your motive?” asked Gintoki, who now walked towards Tsukuyo and Azumi, with him in front of them. “Why are you here?”

“Why are we here, you ask? You’re on our turf! And you’re the ones who beat up one of our troops back in the quarters, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes, we are the ones who did that. So?”

“You bastards! Do you think you could get away with this? Do you think you could get away from the Sonjouroushi, huh?”

“Hate to break it to you, but you guys are just bastards who sully the Jouishishi name,” remarked Tsukuyo, her hands crossed on her chest. “You’re just an ordinary syndicate who use the name of those patriots in order to give you a wider access to more of your crimes. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Oh, I see,” said Gintoki, as he looked at her at the corner of his eye, and looked back again at the Sonjouroushi members. “So you guys are fakes of the historical Sonnou-Joui faction? Now that I think about it, there was nothing about _‘revering the Emperor’_ or _‘expelling the barbarians’_ on your actions at all. I bet you didn’t even know the true strength of the Jouiroushi!”

“How dare you bastards belittle us? We are the mighty Sonjouroushi! We fought in the Joui wars several years ago! We kicked those bastard Amantos’ asses!”

“ _Kicked their asses_ , you say?” the silver-haired samurai then trailed off, as he walked on forward with a bokutou on his hand. “Did you even know.. what it feels.. to fight a futile battle? Did you even know.. how hard it was to carry on your comrades’ burden, and how hard it was to accept that you’ve done nothing to save their lives?”

As Gintoki inched closer to the Sonjouroushi, Tsukuyo and Azumi who are behind him can only stare at him in silence. Tsukuyo, on the other hand, looked at him in disbelief as she tried to process what she just heard.

_So…this man was really a former Joui patriot, huh?_

“Listen here… I don’t give a damn about you being the fakes of those Sonjouroushi or whatever.. You can do whatever you want to do in this country, but for starters, I won’t let anyone mess with me! I’ve said it times before, and I’ll say this once again: everything that was within the reach of my sword is my country. I—”

“—Is that what you samurai call as your bushido? Such codes of honor… do not apply to the likes of us!”

“I don’t—” Gintoki then swung his bokutou up in the air, and hit the guy who interrupted him earlier, hitting him with full force on the stomach, sending him flying. “—want anyone to interrupt me whenever I’m giving my speeches, kono yarou!”

After a few moments, the man who he supposed was one of this troop’s leaders stood up, brushing the blood and dirt out of his lips with his sleeve.

“You are one crazy man. But listen up! I don’t give a damn about you or that black-haired girl over there! What we needed was her,” he said as he pointed to Tsukuyo. “..The boss has seemed to take a liking to her. We’ve been given orders to capture her, and orders to eliminate anyone who stands in our way.”

A few seconds have passed and a single reply was yet to be made. The man looked intently at the three intruders, Tsukuyo and Azumi both looked at Gintoki with suspecting glares, and Gintoki looked… quite blank, for lack of a better word.

“The hell aren’t you saying anything? I just told you that I’ll capture that blonde girl, didn’t I? You should respond like, ‘Ah, I won’t let you take her!’ or something like that!”

A few more seconds have passed, and Gintoki still hasn’t said anything, which made the man pissed. “OI! Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Gintoki, as if he just fell out of his trance, scratched the back of his head, the evidence of his earlier seriousness clearly replaced with a bored-looking expression. “Say anything? If there’s anything I wanted to say, I’ll say that your boss got some bad taste in women. I mean, who would want this kind of violent and gloom-faced woman—”

He was unable to continue his ranting as he noticed that a kunai had already pierced through his skull, which made him laugh nervously. “Aaah, that was just a joke, Tsukuyo-tayuu,” he then said as he removed the kunai on his head. “Please forgive this lowly peasant..”

“Shut up.”

“I was just stating the truth…”

“I said shut up, ya big idiot! I have no time to play with you!” exclaimed Tsukuyo, who now walked towards the beaten Sonjouroushi troop leader. “What do you want with me? Spill it, or else I’ll spill your guts.”

“Haven’t I told you guys earlier? Are you guys that illiterate that you cannot even—GAAAAAAH!!!”

The man only found himself to be inside a barrage of kunais, which made him swallow hard in nervousness and beg for his life. However, seeing this did not make the other Sonjouroushi members succumb into their fears, as they immediately surrounded the three of them, with ominous looks plastered on their faces. Tsukuyo and Azumi were about to attack them with their kunai, but Gintoki stopped them.

“Move back. I’ll be the one to handle this.”

Flabbergasted, Tsukuyo nudged him. She needed to handle this alone. She was the one they wanted anyway.

“Gintoki! Stand back! I’ll be the one to handle this! I’m the reason why they’re after us, anyway!”

“Just..”

Gintoki then swung his bokutou, struck it towards the Sonjouroushi members, and grabbed both Tsukuyo’s and Azumi’s hands as he dragged them out with him, cutting their ambush off to a chase.

“..SHUT UP!!!”

The three of them ran endlessly throughout the forest and luckily, they managed to find their way out. Exhausted, they stopped at the highway, waiting for any vehicle to pass.

“Uh—I think they’re already gone,” said Gintoki between gasps, as he wiped off his sweat with his arm. “We’re free now. All we’ve got to do is find someone who would take us back to Yoshiwara.”

Tsukuyo, who was also breathing heavily, looked at him with disgust. “What the hell’s with you, Gintoki? I completely thought that you were gonna fight ‘em on earlier! But instead, we just ran away! What if they managed to find me in Yoshiwara and create some ruckus there? I don’t wanna risk their safety because of me! We should have finished them off there!”

“Even if we beat them up to smithereens, nothing would change. It would still be a waste of time. That one is a huge faction—they aren’t like those Benigumoto which I have shown you before. Those guys earlier were a whole huge level higher than theirs. There’s no way we could get rid of that faction easily.”

“Then.. what should we do?”

“I don’t know.. avoid them, perhaps? And besides, don’t worry, it won’t grow into something that big, I mean, who would take such a huge interest on a girl like you?”

Tsukuyo gave Gintoki a murderous glare, which made Gintoki cringe in response.

“And what do you mean by that, bastard?”

“Uh..no.. it’s nothing.. By the way, where’s Azumi?”

Hearing about the other Hyakka member, Tsukuyo looked around, only to confirm Gintoki’s earlier remark. “She was here just a while ago. Where had she been?”

“Do you think she got separated from us in the forest?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, she’s capable of taking care of herself..”

“No, I’m sure that’s not the issue here, what I’m saying is that—”

“KASHIRA! SAKATA-DONOOOOOO!!”

Hearing that voice, the two of them looked around, only to find Azumi inside a taxi which was coming towards them.

“Good work, Azumi,” said Tsukuyo, who then entered the taxi, and Gintoki followed her soon afterwards. “Now, to Yoshiwara please.”

Gintoki, now inside the taxi, looked around as the vehicle moved down the road. “Where’d you get the taxi?” he then asked, and looked at the front seat. He cringed when he saw Azumi pointing a kunai over the driver’s neck, tears already visible on the hardboiled-looking driver’s eyes.

“Mister driver here was too nice to me that he made us ride it for free,” said Azumi as she gave a big grin to Gintoki.

“HOW? It was pretty obvious that you were threatening him!”

Tsukuyo, now holding her kiseru, puffed out some smoke and looked at Gintoki. “You’re doing great, Azumi. Ojisan, can you please speed up? This taxi’s moving way too slow.”

“Then we would be arrested for not following the speed regulations, dammit! And don’t smoke inside! Do you want this taxi to blow up? And your subordinate isn’t doing something good, either!”

Despite Gintoki’s comments, the taxi continued on trudging its way down to the red-light district of Yoshiwara.

 

  
**XOXOXOX**

  
Shinpachi was alone again at Hino-ya, waiting desperately for both Gintoki and Tsukuyo. The sun was about to set again, but they still weren’t found. Upon finding out that both of them were caught up in an incident involving a certain faction from the Jouiroushi, they split up and searched for them far and wide, but to no avail. And what’s worse, Shinpachi was the one who arrived the earliest, as he was greeted by the mere sight of Hinowa who was unable to move out and search due to her disability.

The spectacled teenager sighed in disbelief. He still can’t believe that both Gintoki and Tsukuyo were involved in such a big mess, and he was sure that Gintoki would be in big trouble. Nevertheless, he was disappointed since he expected to arrive earlier than Kagura, but it seems that it would be the opposite.

For the umpteenth time that day, he wanted Gintoki to bust out the shoji and act like an idiot, ranting off about pachinko balls and whatnot. But that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Oi, Shinpachi! _Tadaima!_ ”

What greeted him was the sight of a happy-looking Kagura, who leapt around and swung her umbrella around, with Sadaharu following shortly from behind. Noting Kagura’s glee at such an occasion, Shinpachi guessed that maybe Gintoki and Tsukuyo were back—and he was right.

Presented before him were Gintoki, Tsukuyo, and a black-haired girl whom he never saw before who claims herself to be Azumi, another member of the Hyakka. Hearing about this, Shinpachi suddenly wondered as to why she didn’t have any scars on her face, but he immediately shrugged the thought off.

Instead, he opted to focus on that crazy boss of his. “Gin-san! Where have you been off to all these time? We’ve been so worried about you!”

Noticing Shinpachi’s anxious expression, Gintoki sighed in defeat. “Aaargh, such troublesome kids you are.. Don’t worry Kagura, Shinpachi—I’m fine. We just caught ourselves on some big fish.”

“Gin-chan said that he had beaten the hell out of them and threw them at the sea. He says that I should do it too!”

“Kagura-chan, that’s not good either! And what he refers to as some ‘big fish’ is entirely different from what you think!”

Shinpachi grumbled in exasperation. It was only a few minutes since the three of them were together again, but here he was, doing tsukkomi like there was no tomorrow. Would being a straightman be his job forever?

But somehow, he kinda missed this feeling—being with the Yorozuya, doing silly things together. Even though they were only separated for a few days, being anxious about someone’s safety made things seem to be a few months rather than just a few hours.

But there was still something that bothered him, and he needed to find it out before Gintoki avoids it like the plague.

“Gin-san,” he started, “I heard that you guys were involved with some Jouiroushi, is that true? It wasn’t the Kiheitai or something like that, was it?”

“Kiheitai? On what basis made you say something like that? Takasugi’s not involved in this, I think—though I think it’s too early for me to say this—but since you’ve probably known this already, then I think that we should really tell you guys what happened. Tsukuyo, do the honors.”

Tsukuyo eyed him suspiciously. “Why me? Do it yourself.”

“But Gin-san was.. you know? Not very articulate when it comes to that,” said Gintoki, whose actions now irritated the Shinigami courtesan. “Gin-san wants to sit still and listen. Aren’t you the leader of the Hundred Blooms? Then you should be able to do something as easy as that.”

Trying to fight the strong urge to smack Gintoki on the head, she sighed in dismay and faced both Shinpachi and Kagura, the seriousness of the situation now clearly being reflected on her eyes.

“Call Hinowa. I’ll explain everything inside.”

 

 

  
**XOXOXOX**

  
Tsukuyo was in a dire situation. She tried to assess to herself what just happened, but it seems that all her efforts were in vain. What did she do in order to experience something like this?

By the time she had finished explaining to everyone what happened, everyone discussed about the plans that they should do. Shinpachi suggested that Tsukuyo shouldn’t leave Hino-ya for a while, but Tsukuyo greatly went against that, so it was rejected. Kagura suggested that she should just kick those bastard Sonjouroushi’s asses, but since nothing viable was formed out of that suggestion, it was ignored. Azumi suggested that Tsukuyo should be guarded by some of the Hyakka, but Tsukuyo went against that again, saying that sending the Hyakka as her bodyguard would be inefficient, as the Hyakka weren’t that many, and she wouldn’t compromise the safety of Yoshiwara with her own safety. Hearing that remark, everyone seemed to be out of options, until Hinowa suggested something she did not even expect.

“Then, what about this: Tsukuyo should stay with Gin-san at Kabuki-chou, and be a temporary member of the Yorozuya! That would be wonderful, don’t you think?”

Hearing this remark made Tsukuyo’s and Gintoki’s jaw drop, as the both of them did not expect something like this from Hinowa. Surely, she didn’t mean it like that—she was only joking, wasn’t she?

“I think it’s a great idea,” replied Azumi, who looked at the both of them with a mischievous grin. “Kashira, don’t worry about us here in Yoshiwara, the Hyakka would take care of everything!”

“It’s great!” exclaimed Kagura, who was now practically talking with her mouth full of sukonbu. “I really think it’s great! Yay! There’ll be a new girl in the house! Uh-huh!”

Shinpachi sighed at Kagura’s actions, and grabbed the packet of sukonbu from her hand. “Oh come on Kagura-chan, it’s bad manners to talk when your mouth is full,” he then said, as he placed the sukonbu on his kimono. He then faced Hinowa, and smiled. “I do think it’s a great idea, Hinowa-san! Leave it to us! The Yorozuya Gin-chan assures you that nothing would happen to Tsukuyo-san! Right, Gin-san?”

With the mention of his name, everyone looked at Gintoki, who was obviously unhappy about the situation. “Don’t you _‘Right, Gin-san?’_ me, Pattsuan. Hinowa-san, do you even think I can handle all the financial problems if I had another freeloader at home? I can’t even pay my rent, not to mention feed that Yato girl over there!” he exclaimed, pointing out to Kagura.

“Oi, Gin-chan, want me strangle you, huh?”

Hinowa only smiled at him in response. “Oh please, Gin-san? I’m sure that if Tsukuyo’s with you then everything would be fine. And I’m sure the Hyakka wouldn’t worry about their Kashira if they knew that the one who guards her was the Savior of Yoshiwara.”

“Savior this, savior that.. you know Hinowa-san, you’ve been shoving all your problems to me, haven’t you? Is this how you courtesans treat your savior, huh?”

Ignoring his remarks, she continued: “And besides Gin-san, you wouldn’t have to worry about money—I’ve got it all covered. Yoshiwara will cover a month’s worth of rent, and we will also provide you some allowance for your expenses.”

“Keh! As if that kind of thing would change my mind! Who knows what would happen to me if I stay in the same roof with that drunk terminator? I’ll be goddamned insane!”

Much to his dismay, he was consistently being ignored by everyone but Tsukuyo, who looked as dismayed as he was. He looked at her intently and tried to figure out what she was thinking, but failed. He couldn’t figure her out at all.

And what’s worse, Shinpachi and Kagura approached her, welcoming her to the Yorozuya Gin-chan family. Hinowa and Azumi, on the other hand, kept on smiling like idiots, and he felt as if he was really being targeted by those knowing smiles of theirs. Seeing no other options, Gintoki sighed in disbelief, and looked at Hinowa.

“I’ll agree if you change the deal to a year’s worth of rent and allowance. Is that a deal?”

Hinowa smiled in return. “Deal.”

 

 

  
**XOXOXOX**

  
The moon shined throughout the night skies, engulfing the earth in its silver glow. It was beautiful as usual; however, despite the fact that it was indeed a marvelous sight to behold, it still cannot erase the anxiousness that a certain silver-haired samurai had felt. Lots of things had happened in the span of two days—and that was only the start of it. Would things get worse from now onwards?

Given the life that he had lived up until now, maybe it’s a yes. However, he can only move forward, and live his life the way his own bushido commanded him.

The silver-haired samurai with a perm, Sakata Gintoki, sat on the engawa of one of the rooms that Hinowa had lent them, as he stared at the night sky with a melancholic expression. He pondered about the things that happened to them—they went to Yoshiwara for a festival, and somehow, he and Tsukuyo were left alone by themselves and they were caught up in the ruckus made by those Sonjouroushi, and when he managed to escape, he then finds himself another freeloader at the Yorozuya. Not that he can complain though, as he was a freeloader himself, albeit sometimes.

Not that he despised the idea of having Tsukuyo stay with them. Tsukuyo’s a nice girl, and he gets along with her just fine, as compared to other girls that he knew, but still… wasn’t it troublesome to have another woman live in his own house? And where would she sleep? His house was already small as it is—and Kagura sleeps in a freakin’ closet! And he heard some rumors about him being a lolicon, which made him shudder in disgust. Wouldn’t the rumors worsen if they discover that he had another woman on his apartment? He’ll have a friggin’ harem at this rate! He knew firsthand how hard it was to have a harem, dammit!

He sighed. He didn’t know how many times he sighed that day, but he sighed again.

He continued on staring at the moon, until he heard some footsteps in the hall. He turned around. It wasn’t those _stands_ , was it?

“Gintoki…what are you doing here?”

Before him stood his new freeloader, Tsukuyo, who then sat beside him on the engawa. Gintoki, not knowing how to answer, fell silent and just looked at the night sky.

“Ignoring me, huh? Do you really want me to strangle you?”

“Not really. Just thinking how hard would it be for me once you lived at my house.”

Tsukuyo glared at him in response. “What? Am I a bother? Just say it, and I’ll immediately cancel the plan.”

“Nah, don’t,” he replied, looking at her with a lazy expression. “It’s fine. Shinpachi and Kagura wanted you to be there. Just do a bit of the chores and everything would be fine.”

“Then all is good. I mean, you shouldn’t have the guts to disagree, given that everything was in your favor… I, on the other hand, was in a complete disadvantage.”

“Oi, are you saying that staying with me was that bad? Are you saying that I’m that troublesome?”

“About Shinpachi and Kagura, of course not. And I kinda like your dog too. But you, on the other hand… geh.”

“Oi, did you just _‘geh’_ at me? Are you trying to say that I’m disgusting, huh?”

“It’s up to your interpretation.”

“OI! You’re really trying to mess with me, aren’t you?”

Hearing no reply, Gintoki sighed and looked at the moon once again. With the both of them looking at the night sky, somehow, a peaceful and calming atmosphere was formed between the two of them. This made Gintoki smile somewhat, and yet he didn’t know why.

“I didn’t know you liked looking at the moon during nighttime. Is that a habit?”

“I dunno,” replied Gintoki, “I only look at it occasionally. How about you? I think yours was a habit.”

“It is. Somehow, it became my daily routine to look at the night sky before going to sleep. It kinda gives me a soothing feeling, somehow…”

At that moment, Tsukuyo stood up, and looked at Gintoki. “Well, I’ll be going now. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Tsukuyo then walked away, but before she vanished from his sight, he called her attention.

“What is it?” she asked as she cocked her head to face him, curious as to why he called her again.

Gintoki looked at her intently, and smiled at her. “—Welcome to the Yorozuya.”

Tsukuyo smiled at this. “Thanks.”

And with a single step, she disappeared from his line of view. Gintoki, now alone again, decided that it was time to go to bed so he stood up and went inside his room, opened the lights, and fixed his futon. However, as he did so, his eyes caught sight of a brown corduroy bag which he had gotten from the house inside the Sonjouroushi quarters.

Out of sheer curiosity, he went towards it and opened it. He then saw packs of Nmaibo inside it, in different packs with assorted flavors, which, if memory serves, was also its content when he opened it earlier. But that’s to be expected—it was stuck on his back the whole time.

He rummaged through the bag, curious as to what other kinds of food would be inside it. However, he noticed a small wooden box inside with no label on it, and by the looks of it, it was quite old. The box had no locks—which meant that he can always take a peek on it, or even get something from it. But still, he hesitated. Wasn’t that damned thing not his? It’s bad to open something that wasn’t his, right?

Still, the mere sight of the box with contents yet to be discovered stirred his curiosity like a friggin’ temptress. A part of him wanted to open the box, as it belonged to no one anyway, and if it did, he won’t be able to give it back as it was obviously impossible, given the circumstances. However, a part of him also told him not to proceed with it, as if telling him that the box was akin to a Pandora’s Box—which, if opened, would make him realize that there’s no more going back.

Nevertheless, the latter won, and so he opened it. Gulping nervously, he took a peek inside.

Inside were a stack of old letters, old newspaper cutouts, and an old notebook that seemed tattered with age. Much to his surprise, he picked the notebook and opened it, and as he did so, an old picture fell on the floor.

He picked the picture and looked at it. By that instant, he knew that it was a huge mistake to open that box. He had seen something which was better off not being seen.

In his hands lay the picture of Yoshida Shouyou—his beloved sensei, his guardian, his savior whom he deeply loved and admired. It was a picture of Shouyou during the time when he still taught at the juku that he, Zura and Takasugi had attended. And on the back of the picture, it read November 21, which, ironically, was also a date that Gintoki would never ever forget.

November 21 was the day when Shouyou-sensei died.

And, much to his surprise, the date inscribed on the picture was written using blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • engawa— is an exterior hallway on the side of a traditional Japanese house.  
> • goukon— is a Japanese group dating custom that involves a small gathering of two groups of people, an equal number of men and women (in the case of straights of course), usually taking place at a sit-down Japanese pub (“Izakaya”).  
> • Takenori Akagi is a gorilla-like character from the JUMP series, Slam Dunk.  
> • Toriyama-sensei is Toriyama Akira, the mangaka of Dragon Ball.  
> • Watsuki-sensei is Watsuki Nobuhiro, the mangaka of Rurouni Kenshin and Busou Renkin.  
> • Matsumoto Jun (ARASHI), Yamashita Tomohisa (NEWS), and Koike Teppei (WaT) are popular singer-actors in Japan.  
> • Miura Haruma and Ikuta Toma are popular actors in Japan.  
> • Matsumoto is Matsumoto Takahiro from B’z, a popular band in Japan. Ironically, Otae was also a big fan of it.  
> • Hyde is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as vocalist for the rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel, as well as for Vamps.  
> • Gackt is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor and author. Usually referred to by his mononymous stage name, he is known for his career as a solo artist and as the former vocalist for the defunct visual kei rock band Malice Mizer.  
> • Shimura Ken is a Japanese comedian and actor.  
> • Sumimasen deshita – means “I’m sorry” or “Excuse me”  
> • Tadaima – “I’m home.”  Standard Japanese phrase whenever they get back home.  
> • The Benigumoto is the syndicate appearing on the Jiraia arc, during the time when Gintoki brought Tsukuyo to their quarters.  
> • Jouiroushi = Jouishishi  
> • Sonjouroushi = Sonnou-Joui faction  
> • The Sonnou-Joui faction, shortened as the Sonjouroushi, was based on the historical factions wherein the fictional Jouishishi in Gintama was based from. Actually, the “Sonnou-Joui” was more of their slogan—“Sonnou” for the “Revere the Emperor” and “Joui” for “Expel the Barbarians.”


	4. You would never know a man’s worth unless you’ve spent lots of time with him.

The evening breeze was cold that night.

It made her teeth chatter in response as the cold gush of wind made contact with her alabaster skin, and she tried her best to conserve her body heat, covering herself more with her haori¸ as if it was still even possible. Deciding that it still wasn’t enough, she rubbed her palms and blew on them, and then, she made an awkward smile. She wasn’t smiling at anything in particular, but somehow, the warm feeling of her breath on her palms made her feel nostalgic—she always did that whenever she was cold, back then when she was still a little kid, even before she was sold to Yoshiwara.

The Courtesan of Death, the tayuu Tsukuyo, even as midnight approached, continued on standing at the veranda of Yorozuya Gin-chan, the place where she was told to stay until the Sonjouroushi gets their eyes off of her. She did not mind the fact that she was standing there for an hour now, or the fact that the night was getting chilly and she was cold, since she was still waiting for someone.

Still, even though she had no other choice but to wait, she wasn’t bored at all. The silver moon, now a glowing full moon, was her company for the whole night—or rather, the whole time since she had stayed there.

Tsukuyo took her pipe and blew some smoke out of her lips. It felt like it had just been yesterday since the time she had left Yoshiwara and stayed at Yorozuya Gin-chan, when it had actually been almost two weeks since she had stayed there. Time sure flies fast, she mused, since she had actually lost track of time during her stay. But, there’s no helping it, is there? Kabuki-chou is such a nice place that even though she still considered Yoshiwara as her home, she couldn’t help but feel welcomed at its brash yet soothing atmosphere. In such a short span of time, she had grown to love the whole district—and of course, the Yorozuya themselves.

For the past few days she had stayed there, there wasn’t a time where Tsukuyo hadn’t felt right at home. At first, she thought that she would have a hard time adjusting to the place, but it seems that she was wrong. The Yorozuya treated her so nicely, that she was able to blend in easily, and feel as if she was a part of their family a long time ago. Sure, they were a bunch of loony rascals who didn’t pay their rent—but their actions were sincere, and that’s what counts.

During her stay, she, too, had her share in the household chores. She helped Shinpachi clean the house, and oftentimes she would get irked by Gintoki’s laziness since he just leaves most of the work to the poor teenager. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get to contribute, though—if there’s anything about him that surprised her the most, then that would be the fact that he was an amazing cook. And for the record, everyone at the household looked forward to Gintoki’s cooking the most. If his laziness wasn’t a huge factor, then they could’ve opened a restaurant instead. But still, cooking was done in rotation between her, Shinpachi and Gintoki, and since she didn’t know how to cook that well, every time she was in charge of cooking, they would have nabe.

As for the fact on where she would sleep though, she still had a problem on that. The place was really small, and it only had one bedroom, and Gintoki’s the one staying on it. Kagura’s sleeping in the closet, so there’s no other option for her. So, on the first day of her stay, she and Gintoki had an agreement to share the bedroom. They laid two futons inside, both placed on each end of the room, and there was a huge gap between them, but still, that didn’t change the fact that it was awkward to share the same room with him, so she couldn’t sleep. Later that night, Gintoki stood up and went out of the room, dragging his blanket with him, and he proceeded to sleep on the couch. Realizing what he just did, she then stopped him and told him that she should be the one to sleep on the couch instead since she was the one imposing on them, but he insisted otherwise, since he was a guy and besides, he was used to it anyway.

And Gintoki slept on the couch for the succeeding days, despite all of her protests. Since she felt bad about it, she decided to wait for him every night, and be the last one to sleep. It’s the only way she can compensate for what she did, after all. But during the nights, she noticed that upon his arrival, Gintoki wouldn’t sleep yet, and would just join her at the veranda, watching the moon with her. They would talk for a while, and after that, they would go to sleep. Sometimes Gintoki would just go straight to the couch without even changing his clothes, so at those times, she had no other choice but to cover him with a blanket before going to bed.

What they’ve been doing seemed to be a routine for her, and it was absolutely a change of pace from her strenuous job as the leader of the Hyakka. However, she liked it just the way it was, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Moreover, as the days pass, she learns more and more about them, and she gradually becomes aware on how relationships work and how different it was from the relationships formed in Yoshiwara.

Even though she was only staying there for a few days, she noticed how happy they were despite their hard, penniless life. They have no job requests, they always eat tamago-kake-gohan for breakfast, and they act like kids despite their varying ages—but those things didn’t change the fact that they treat each other as family, no matter how weird it is.

The bespectacled teenager, Shimura Shinpachi, plays the role of a nagging mother from time to time to both Gintoki and Kagura, and by the looks of it, he was the one who does the full load of the housework, whether it may be doing the laundry, washing the dishes, or even mopping the floor. Sometimes, even Tsukuyo wondered on how he was able to hone such domestic skills, considering the fact that he was a teenaged boy.

Kagura, the youngest among the three, plays the role of a mischievous daughter whose innocence seems to be tainted by those people around her. Sometimes, she acts even worse than a little kid, and sometimes, she acts all serious and mature, but fails anyway since it seems that Gintoki had taught her useless things. Nevertheless, she and her pet dog, Sadaharu give life to the otherwise dull Yorozuya office.

However, what caught most of her attention was Sakata Gintoki, the lazy samurai who played varying roles among the Yorozuya. Unlike other men his age, he was lazy and cranky, and oftentimes acted like a little kid when it comes to his favorite sweets and Weekly Shounen Jump. Still, despite all of that, he was reliable when the need for it arises, and she knew that he treasured both Shinpachi and Kagura as if they were family—and of course, she also knew that the both of them felt the same way too. Sure, she knew that they weren’t blood-related—but so what? That didn’t change the fact that the bond they share was genuine, and it was one of the most beautiful relationships she had ever seen in her entire life.

And, such thoughts made her think about her relationship with Hinowa, Seita and the other citizens of Yoshiwara. She treasured them a lot as if they were her family, but did they feel the same way? Was she also important to them?

Due to such thoughts, Tsukuyo then gave a deep sigh. It’s pointless to think of such things now, since she was only outside because she’s waiting for that silver-headed bastard to come back home. Kagura was fast asleep on Gintoki’s closet, Sadaharu was slumped on the floor for a long time now, and Shinpachi already went back home. And it’s past midnight now, so where did that bastard go off to? Pachinko? Casino?

But come to think of it, he was always outside as of late. After breakfast, he goes out early in the morning and comes back at past midnight, and because of that, she, Shinpachi, Kagura and Sadaharu were left to tend to their customers, if there were any. She found Gintoki’s behavior somewhat odd, so one day, she told Shinpachi and Kagura about it.

“About Gin-san’s disappearances? Well, he does that from time to time, and sometimes he won’t even go home for a few days, but since you’ve mentioned it now, Tsukuyo-san.. I do think that Gin-san’s quite out of it lately,” she remembered Shinpachi saying in response to her question.

And if memory serves right, Kagura also said something about Gintoki’s behavior…

“But Gin-chan’s really weird as of late, Shinpachi. Sure, he still does his morning routine of watching the TV for the weather forecast and lazing off while reading a copy of Jump, but if you look closely, he seemed to eat less nowadays, his overall sweets and strawberry milk consumption lessened, and he even buys Jump on Thursdays now. Is Gin-chan sick?”

“I don’t know, Kagura-chan, I don’t know. Maybe he just finally realized that he was too old for those kinds of things that he tried to stray from them step by step.”

“I see. He had one of those PMS things—that Postmenopausal Syndrome, yes?”

“Oiii! Just what do you think of Gin-san? Gin-san’s not a girl! And besides, PMS does not stand for Postmenopausal Syndrome, it’s Premenstrual Syndrome!”

“But doesn’t it mean that we shouldn’t think too much of Gin-chan’s weird behavior? I mean, he’s Gin-chan after all. He’s an idiot—and people say that idiots don’t catch colds.”

“What? So you’re trying to imply that Gin-san has a cold, is that it? But now that you mention it, I do think that Gin-san’s fine.. Maybe he’s just feeling out of it today, I mean, everyone had times like that.”

..Or so she remembered. As much as Kagura imitates Gintoki like a damned sponge, it seems that most of the things she learned from him were pretty much useless things. But then again, despite the fact that the three of them noticed the change in behavior of the silver-haired samurai, they just ignored it, and shrugged the thought off. There’ll be no end to it if they keep on thinking like that, since it was that man, after all.

Stifling a yawn by her hand, she looked at her Justaway wristwatch which she had bought at a local bazaar while she was strolling along the streets of Kabuki-chou. It was now quarter to 1 o’clock, and Gintoki still wasn’t home. He seemed to be going home past midnight these past few nights, and she was starting to get worried. What could he be doing that it would take him to go home later than usual?

“Tadaima… Keh, as if anyone could hear me anyway. Aaaah, I’m tired…”

Hearing that voice in the entrance, Tsukuyo walked on towards it, only to find the man she had been waiting for.

She took a good look at the permhead in front of her. He still looked as dull as ever, and there wasn’t something odd about him—physically, at least. However, it was too early to be certain of it.

“You…just where have you been?”

Finding Tsukuyo in front of him, Gintoki frowned in response. She was furious at him, he was certain of it.

“Oi, oi… why did you suddenly bring up that line? Are you a nagging wife or something? And besides, I’ve said ‘Tadaima’ didn’t I? You could have at least replied ‘Okaeri’ instead!”

Seeing that Gintoki was willing to stray away from her question, she then looked at him intently, and asked again. “Just answer the damn question. Where have you been?”

There was a short pause for a few seconds before Gintoki could even reply.

“P-Pachinko, of course. Yeah, the balls were on high fever, you know!”

“—And I could also strip you of your balls if you keep on lying to me, you know. Do you really want to be celibate now, huh?”

“Hahahaha… of course that’s not all… You’re such a tease, Tsukuyo...”

“I ain’t teasing you.”

“Eh.. that’s right… well, I met Hasegawa-san on the way home, and we went out for some drinks..”

“..You’ve been drinking up until this hour?”

“Well, yes.. Why? I can go home whenever I want! I’m a full grown adult!”

Seeing that her efforts were all useless, Tsukuyo sighed, and gave him a suspecting glare. “I know that I am not in the position to pry into your business and all, but don’t you dare forget that there are still people who are worried about you, Gintoki. Don’t you dare get into trouble.”

Gintoki smiled weakly at this. “I won’t. Don’t worry.”

“Well, you better make sure of that,” she then said, and walked inside. Sitting on the couch with a slight thump, she crossed her arms on her chest and looked at Gintoki who also sat straight on the other couch in front of her.

Tsukuyo looked at Gintoki at the corner of her eye. One look at him and she can easily tell that he was quite exhausted, and it is too obvious that he’s been trying to desperately hide what he’s been doing. Still, his efforts weren’t enough to fool her trained eye. She was the leader of the Hyakka, after all.

Every night he keeps on using the same excuses—pachinko, drinking, gambling, doing other jobs, and everything that comes to mind—but she knew that he’s been lying to her. Gintoki wasn’t that good of an actor anyway. Still, what could he be doing that he would even go as far as to lie to them?

“You don’t have to wait for me, you know. You could’ve just slept early. Just take a good look at Kagura—she doesn’t wait for me like you do.”

“It’s none of your damn business. I can do whatever I want.”

“What? What do you mean it’s none of my damn business? I’m the one you’ve been waiting for, girlie!”

“It’s the least I could do for all the trouble I’ve caused you guys, Gintoki. Just let me do this.”

Seeing no other options, Gintoki gave a deep sigh. “Well, since you insist, I won’t go on any further. Just don’t blame me if you lose your beauty sleep.”

“I was never beautiful to begin with, so I really don’t care.”

“…Huh? What the hell are you saying? You’re not—aaaah, it’s nothing, really,” he grumbled in his seat, and took a look at her. His eye met hers in an instant.

Gintoki gave her a mischievous grin. “Or maybe you kept on waiting for me because you wanted to see me, don’t you? You can’t sleep without talking to me every night? Do you really like me that much, huh?”

“HUH? What gave you that friggin’ idea, Gintoki? It ain’t like that you bastard! I’ve told you, it’s my way of repaying you guys, aren’t you even listening to what I’ve always been saying?”

“Well, we’ll never know.. and besides, Hinowa’s the one who told me that you had a crush on me you know.. Aaaah, this little maiden from Yoshiwara got a crush on this magnificent me! HAHAHAHA!”

“Oh? So you’ve become quite the narcissist now, aren’t you? Well then, just so you know, I ain’t got a crush on you, and will never will. Got that?”

“Oh, really? Then why is your face red? Are you.. blushing? HAHAHAHAHA—ooooooof!”

Before he can even stop laughing, a kunai was already stuck on his forehead, with blood oozing out and trickling down his face.

“I.. I forfeit.. It’s your win, Tsukuyo-sama… Jeez, can’t you even take a joke?”

“A joke? Don’t you kid yourself. And besides, the types of men that I like are those strong, selfless, responsible guys who had a strong sense of justice. Not lazy bums like you.”

“Oi! Are you just calling me a lazy bum? And there’s no way that someone like that could exist you know! People like that only exist in people’s dreams!”

“Well he exists in my dreams so if you’ll excuse me!”

Tttttrrrr. The sound of the closet door opening caught the attention of both Gintoki and Tsukuyo, and they stopped on their tracks to look at a sleepy Kagura, one hand brushing her eye, her hair all messy and disheveled.

“Gin-chan, Tsukky, urusai aru! Shut the hell up ‘coz I’m still sleeping! Go to sleep!”

And with that, the closet door closed, leaving the two adults in their own devices. Then, as if Kagura’s interruption was some kind of spell to settle things between the two of them, they just laughed for no apparent reason.

Tsukuyo was the first one to stop. “Well, you’ve heard Kagura. I’m going to sleep now, so goodnight.”

She then stood up and went inside her—which was actually Gintoki’s—bedroom, and closed the shoji shut. Once she is out of view, however, Gintoki gave a feeble smile.

“...Then goodnight it is.”

  
**XOXOXOX**   


“Danna, would you like a drink? We’re on a big promo right now!”

A bar filled with old, useless bums and Madaos.

“Okyaku-san, mind if you take our offer?”

A 24/7 bargain shop which he frequents for its low prices.

“Hey, Gin-san! Come back here for some time!”

A genuine Madao in an Oden stand.

“Hey, Paako! Mama, I think I’ve just seen Paako!”

A fugly beast named Agomi who lives in a dungeon called “Okama Bar.”

“Paako! PAAKO!”

The fugly beast named Agomi once again.

“PAAKO!”

Now the monster who was even called a “Mademoiselle,” Saigou Tokumori.

“PAAAAAAAAKOOOOOOOOO!”

Ignoring the screams behind him, Gintoki continued on walking down the streets of Kabuki-chou, his footsteps resounding in his ears. The nights were cold as of late, since autumn was about to end and winter would soon arrive. However, to Gintoki, everything is still the same.

Ever since they came back from Yoshiwara, he had always been anxious. This unsettling feeling in his chest—he couldn’t describe why seeing such an intriguing picture of Shouyou-sensei made him feel of an upcoming danger, but ever since then, he became unsettled. Thus, he spent his every day looking for clues by himself, as he did not want to involve anyone in this, but it seems that it was now only a matter of time before they discover everything that he’s been doing out in the open. Tsukuyo even voiced out their suspicions to him last night. Was not involving them the right thing to do?

But even so, he trusted his senses. Most of the time, his suspicions were correct, so why would it fail this time? No matter what happens, he decided that he would not involve anyone in this, especially not Kagura and Shinpachi. If anything bad happens to him, then so be it.

However, since Shouyou-sensei was involved, there was an exception…

“Oi Zura, are you there?”

Gintoki entered one of his favorite restaurants—Hokuto Shinken, the ramen shop owned by Ikumatsu, who now apparently serves some soba on her menu. Upon his arrival, he saw the aforementioned owner and smiled at her.

“Hello, Ikumatsu-san.”

“Ara, Gin-san, it’s been a while,” she greeted, and smiled back at him. “Is there anything you wanna order? I bet you’ve got some cash there, now that you’ve come back here.”

“Is Zura around?”

Ikumatsu blinked. “Zura?”

“Ah, you know, that Katsura Kotarou. He told me that he’d been staying here for a while. Is he here?”

“Ah, him, huh? He’s in the kitchen, you can go there.”

Without much of a second thought, Gintoki walked towards the kitchen as Ikumatsu led him the way. “Thanks,” he then said to her, and walked inside, only to find Katsura cooking ramen—or rather, instant ramen—together with his favorite sidekick, Elizabeth.

“Ooooh, that’s right Elizabeth! You’re doing great! Now put the hot water inside the bowl, and let it settle for three minutes.”

‘What should I do after three minutes, Katsura-san?’

“Of course then we would eat the ramen, Elizabeth. Don’t be silly.”

‘But there is so much time while we cook the ramen.’

“Oh, I see! You’re such a genius Elizabeth! Why didn’t I think of that? Three minutes is a long time! During those three minutes, a lot of things could happen!”

And as if to emphasize his point, Katsura crossed his arms to his chest, looked down, and gave his freaky sidekick a small nod.

Gintoki, on the other hand, looked irritated upon seeing Zura and Elizabeth, but called him anyway.

“Oi, Zura.”

“You see Elizabeth, in those three minutes, even Gian can be a good boy towards Shizuka-chan and Nobita... but you see, even Doraemon's take-copter cannot do anything about it. Let me start with a story—a story about a girl named Mariko, who lost everything in the span of three minutes.."

"Oi, oi, don't you ignore me Zura! And don't start on your fairy tales!"

"Mariko was running down the road, while she munched on a piece of bread, screaming 'I'm late! I'm late!' and when she got to the pedestrian lane, as she was about to cross the road, she saw a white dog cross the street while the traffic light was still red..."

"Why are you starting that way? Do you think you're Roman, huh?"

"'S-Shiro-chan!' she sreamed, but all of a sudden everything went blank... The moment Mariko opened her eyes, she saw her beloved Shiro-chan... lying dead on the ground."

"OIIIII!! Why are you telling such a gloomy tale? And what's the connection of this with three minutes? And why the hell do you have to focus on the friggin' dog?"

"Mariko cried. Shiro-chan was dead. He was the only one left on her family—and now she was alone. 'Why did Shiro-chan die?' she asked herself all over again... but she knew that no matter how much she grieves upon her loss, Shiro-chan wouldn't come back. And what's worse, it was her fault."

"Her fault? Are you insane, Zura? Didn't you make it clear earlier that he was hit by a car or any vehicle or something like that? And why are you starting on such melodramatic pieces? This is a fanfic for a shounen manga, dammit!"

"Mariko kept on blaming herself for what happened. It was her fault, after all. Aaah, if she hadn't only kept the poor dog in a locked box filled with catnip and sardines for three minutes."

"THAT'S THE THREE MINUTES?"

Crash!

When Katsura Kotarou finally opened his eyes, he then saw himself slumped on the sink, as he realized that someone had kicked him from behind that he wasn't able to finish his story.

He turned around, all furious. "What the hell is that you bastard? Do you think that you—oh, if it wasn't Gintoki. I've been waiting for you."

Gintoki stared back at his childhood friend with an irritated face. "What the hell's up with you, Zura? I've been looking all over for you, you know. And now.. you've been ignoring me as you tell that weird creature your stupid story!"

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. And it's not weird creature, it's Elizabeth. And it's not a stupid story, it's an award-winning story."

"Ah, yes, yes Zura. Now, can we please get started?"

"Well, if you insist. Let's go to the counter."

XOXOXOX

  
Gintoki and Katsura sat on the far end of the counter, as if trying to create some privacy between themselves and the other customers of Hokuto Shinken. Slurping sounds can be heard as Gintoki ate his share of the instant ramen that Zura and Elizabeth had cooked a while ago, while his companion stared at him in silence.

"The Sonjouroushi, huh? You sure have gotten yourself involved with a troublesome bunch, Gintoki."

"Heh, as if being involved with you wasn't troublesome enough," Gintoki muttered under his breath, and stared at him. "So? What about the Sonjouroushi? Any info?"

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Katsura sighed.

"The Sonjouroushi that you've encountered, Gintoki, as you've already guessed, was a faction from the Jouiroushi. Do you remember the legendary Sonjouroushi back when we still fought in the war?"

"Yeah, I remember that. But the Sonjouroushi there only lasted for a few years, right? And it existed years before we even joined the war, so we never knew much about them, aside from the fact that what they've been fighting for was to liberate this country from the Amantos, and for that reason, they were known for their sudden coup d’état against the Tokugawa bakufu, and their attempts on transferring the power from the Shogun back to the Emperor, just like how it was in the ancient times."

"That's right. People tend to be quite cynical creatures, if you ask me. Ever since the Bakufu had surrendered to the Amanto, they went on and became their puppet. All of the privileges were given to the Amanto... that's why the Emperor's loyalists were angered at this notion, and they participated in the Joui war."

"But that's another story, isn't it? How about the Sonjouroushi now? I dunno about the Emperor now or anything, since it was practically the Shogun who was the ruler of the state, but still... why the sudden revival?"

Faced with that question, Katsura looked intently at Gintoki, his eyes boring its way into his.

"The Sonjouroushi that you've faced recently, Gintoki, were just fakes. However, we cannot be assured of that fact yet. I mean, the Joui war has been over for a long time now, and several factions have only started to revive, such as the faction that I lead, and Takasugi’s faction, the Kiheitai."

"Well, if I were to grade all of the revival of these factions, then I would give the Kiheitai the highest grade, if you ask me."

"So if we were to base on this fact, then it is highly probable that the current Sonjouroushi group is also a 'revival' but... with a major twist."

"What do you mean by that, Zura?"

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. What I mean is that there is a possibility of treachery among the main officials of the Bakufu. We've seen one of those in one of Sadasada's attempts... so it is likely that there'll be someone who would follow his footsteps, too. You, Gintoki, knew it firsthand."

"Wait, how did you know that? As far as I'm concerned I thought it was not announced to the public!"

"Don't underestimate my information network, Gintoki. I still have a lot of connections, despite the way I am now."

"Whatever Zura, whatever. But... are you saying that there is a high possibility of treachery among the Bakufu, and that he also played a huge part on the revival of the Sonjouroushi?"

"Maybe. As I've told you before, these were simply predictions. And it is also possible that like what the previous Sonjouroushi had been doing—that is, transferring the state under the rule of the Emperor—that Bakufu official might be someone acting all high and mighty that he considers himself as the emperor, and he was planning on ousting Shigeshige as the current Shogun and take the position of the Shogun for himself."

"That's pretty complex for such a prediction, isn't it?"

"That's right, but it is better than not having any ideas."

Silence filled the area as Gintoki tried to decipher what he just learned. Being involved with the Sonjouroushi is quite dangerous, indeed. He didn't fear about confronting the government; they already did that, and Kagura and Shinpachi were fighting alongside him. But now, even though the setting was quite similar to this, he felt that there was still something amiss. He still had this unsettling feeling on his chest, and all of his senses kept on telling him to get them away from danger.

Still, why did that guy from the Sonjouroushi had Shouyou-sensei's picture?

Katsura, as if hearing Gintoki's thoughts, looked at him. "Still, I don't understand why one of those Sonjouroushi kept a picture of Shouyou-sensei. No matter how far I looked, no matter how deep I searched, I still cannot find any clues."

So Zura still hasn't found anything, huh?

"I see... but, what do you think about the date inscribed on the picture, and the way it was written? What do you...think?"

One look at Gintoki and Katsura could tell that he was quite distressed about this fact. But he cannot blame him; he was the closest one to sensei, after all. And besides, wasn't he distressed about this too?

"If you want an honest opinion, then I'll say it. I think... that what happened on the 21st of November fifteen years ago... was no mere coincidence."

Gintoki felt disturbed at Katsura's sudden remark. Does he mean that sensei was...?

"You may call me a paranoid, but I think that the time when the juku was burned to ashes wasn't an accident at all. I have been feeling that way ever since I saw that incident with my own, two eyes, and now, to think that such a clue would appear after all these time.. I just couldn't stop."

Cold sweat trickled down his face. This unsettling feeling on his chest... was just getting heavier.

"Many of my informants, after I sent them out to investigate about this suspicious picture, went missing, Gintoki. Just from that fact alone, I knew that this wouldn't be an easy task at all.."

Katsura, who now stood up and reached for Gintoki's half-finished bowl of ramen, stopped on his tracks and looked at Gintoki who was now looking down the floor.

"But Gintoki, there is one thing I would like to say to you... I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I got a feeling that from now onwards, if we go on deeper into this, it'll be extremely dangerous. I am prepared to go on forward, since it was no different from what I've been doing up until now, but you, on the other hand... you've finally got a peaceful life. Are you sure you want to continue this? If you wanna quit, then I won't mind."

Just as what Katsura had predicted, Gintoki stood up, and stared back at him with his eyes full of resolve.

"Don't you dare mess with me, Zura. Do you actually think that I would quit, after all these time? I don't care what happens to me, you know... I've got everyone's fangs on my neck already—the Harusame, the Kiheitai, the Bakufu, the Yato, the Shinsengumi and the Mimawarigumi, and now some Jouishishi... do you actually think that something like this would make me back out? I just can’t stay here and watch, doing nothing.”

Gintoki took a step forward, and inched away from Katsura.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from sensei, Zura, then that is to live on what I believe in. I live by my own rules, and by my own pace. Sure, I may get battered and hurt, but if my soul continues to shine on its own pale, silver light, then I would stand up again. I… would not fail sensei this time, and I swear it.”

And with that statement, Gintoki left Hokuto Shinken, leaving a satisfied Katsura behind.

**XOXOXOX**

Okita Sougo hated organizational meetings. Even though he knew that it was a part of his job as a member of the country’s police force, he just couldn’t stand it—it was friggin’ boring. His red eyemask was just right under his fingertips, and he longed to get it and wear it, and have his needed sleep. His nice dream earlier was interrupted after all.

A nice dream about… him killing thousands of Hijikatas.

In his dream, there were thousands of Hijikata-sans bowing to him, and he, in turn, made sadistic approaches on each Hijikata that he sees. He burned his boxes of mayonnaise to ashes, he placed thumbtacks under his futon, he placed red ants under his shirt—and much to his delight, Hijikata was screaming in pain and anguish, but he did not stop there. He unsheathed his katana, and slashed every Hijikata who was about to attack him. And by the time he reached the 340th Hijikata, he woke up to the screams of Kondou Isao, calling him for a meeting with Matsudaira Katakuriko, the annoying daimyo who was in-charge of the Shinsengumi.

Usually, only Kondou and Hijikata were called for a meeting with Matsudaira-tottsuan. Whatever they talk about the meeting would then be announced at the general meeting that they hold during Fridays, and everyone in Shinsengumi attends it, including him.

However, he was called for a meeting with Tottsuan this time, which obviously sparked his interest. What could the reason of the meeting be that even he had to be in there?

But now that he was actually in the meeting, he desperately wanted it to end. He wanted to go out and find some victims for his sadism, dammit!

Here they were, in a spare tatami room at the Shinsengumi Headquarters, and Matsudaira was in front of them, smoking as usual as he sat on a zabuton, his ever-trusty gun on his side. Beside him was the Shinsengumi Commander, Kondou Isao, and in front of them were Okita Sougo and Hijikata Toushirou, the First Squad Captain and the Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi, respectively. The three Shinsengumi also sat on a zabuton, and listened to the rantings of their superior.

“So everything’s settled then. Make sure you get your asses to the terminal, or else this Shinsengumi would be doomed!”

“B-but Tottsuan,” pleaded Kondou, “you’ve just told us your woes about Kuriko-chan’s new boyfriend! You’ve never told us whom we’re going to escort!”

Seeing Kondou’s gorilla-like face filled with hesitation irked the hell out of Matsudaira that he even grabbed his gun and pointed it on the gorilla’s head. “What do you mean by that, huh, Kondou? Aren’t you listening to me? And don’t you dare call my daughter so endearingly!”

“O-of course, I’m listening to you, Tottsuan. And I’ll be extra careful not to call your daughter ‘Kuriko-chan’ from now on.”

Matsudaira was pissed off even more that he even plunged the gun deeper on Kondou’s forehead.

“Huh? Didn’t I just hear you call Kuriko so endearingly, huh? Don’t you dare address my daughter so informally! The next time I hear you saying that, a true bullet would come out of this, you bastard!”

“Tottsuan, drop it already,” Hijikata butted in, “Kondou-san just asked you who we’re going to escort. Didn’t you say that we have to go to the terminal tomorrow to escort a VIP? So then, who is it?”

Matsudaira looked coldly at Hijikata. “Oh, so even you Toushi would butt in. Very well, the one who you’re going to escort is a very important person, and you should guard him at all times. If he gets in danger, even your necks would not suffice. Got that?”

“Heh,” Okita muttered under his breath, “then that must’ve been the Shogun again. We’re going to babysit him again, huh?”

“Oi, Sougo!” hushed Hijikata, “Stop that! Tottsuan might hear you!”

“A~re? But Hijikata-san, wasn’t your voice louder than mine?”

“What? Oh, I’ll kill you..!”

But before Hijikata and Okita can start on arguing, Matsudaira pointed his gun to their heads. “Okay. One more and I’m really gonna shoot you.”

Sensing the increasing irritation of their superior, the two Shinsengumi spruced themselves up and looked at him.

“Listen up! The one you’re gonna escort tomorrow at the Terminal is no other than one of the Shogun’s closest and most-trusted internal advisors, and I also heard that he was also a daimyo. But anyway, he just came from Planet Namek for an ambassadorial meeting.”

“Heh~ so he went to Planet Namek. Did he meet Piccolo?”

“Oi, Sougo! Shut the hell up, would you? I bet he just went there to find Shenlong!”

“Toushi, Sougo, stop that! But if he did meet Shenlong, then I’ll ask him to grant my greatest wish: that I would marry Otae-san and have lots of kids!”

Bang!

The three of them went into a complete silence as Matsudaira fired a shot with his gun. Fortunately, the bullet went straight to the fusuma, and because of that, their life was spared.

“And since he’s returning to Edo, he decided that he’ll be staying here at the Shinsengumi. You boys better behave well or else you’re dead!”

**XOXOXOX**

  
“Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~~~”

Kagura stared at the group of children who played kick-the-can at the park, despite the scorching heat of the sun. The sun’s heat was too much for her to take, so she had no other choice but to sit down the bench, and stare enviously at the kids who play so vigorously without the need for a parasol or anything that can shield them from the sun’s heat.

Since that fact had pissed her off, she grasped the handle of her umbrella tighter.

“Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~~~”

It was past eleven and she was starting to get hungry. However, she did not have the heart to do so, as she felt quite moody today—and for no apparent reason at all. She had a lack of sleep for these past few days, and Gin-chan, despite the fact that he came back home at eight yesterday, was still acting weird…or rather, weirder than usual. His usual actions were still the same though.. but if one looked at him closely, then they could see the difference.

Gin-chan seemed to be troubled by something, and she was sure of it. And, it seemed that even Shinpachi and Tsukky knew about it too. He tried his best to keep it to himself, and he tried his hardest to act the same as usual, but all seemed to be useless—she has been with him for so long, that she could easily notice if something’s quite off.

Seeing Gin-chan so troubled made her feel anxious. She wanted to help him, but it seems that he was determined not to let any of them have a share of his troubles. However, she still wasn’t sure of it yet… so she decided that until something happened, she would continue on observing him.

“Oi, China. Have you been waiting to get your ass kicked?”

Hearing that irritating voice, Kagura turned around, only to find Okita Sougo, her sadistic rival. Without so much a second thought, she jumped out of the bench and pointed her umbrella at him, as she gave him her piercing glare.

“Sadist…”

Seeing Kagura’s lack of usual energy, Okita jumped and sat on the bench, and looked at her. “Oh, what’s wrong, China? You seem to be out of it today.”

“Shut up, you sadist. Leave me alone. I don’t feel like fighting you today.”

“Oh, is that so? Then does that mean that I win today?”

The word “win” made Kagura perk up in response. She looked at him, but before she could even speak, she felt something bite her in her back. She wailed in response.

She reached for her back, and found some red ants on her hand. She knew who the culprit was—it was no other than that sadistic Shinsengumi bastard in front of her.

“That hurt, you bastard!”

She gave Okita a swift kick to the head, but he managed to dodge it. He then jumped and gave a roundhouse kick to Kagura, but she managed to dodge it. She blocked his foot with her umbrella, but Okita managed to sweep her down to her feet, and she fell out of balance.

She was about to use her hands to stop her fall, but she wasn’t able to do so. She fell on the ground, face first.

“O-ouch..” she cried, and glared at Okita disgustingly. “You sadistic bastard… I told you I don’t feel like fighting you today..!”  
  
Seeing Kagura’s irritated face, Okita then sat down on the bench, and looked at her. “Heh~ so it’s true then that you’re quite out of it today, China. Well, let’s call it a day—we’ll just continue next time. I don’t feel like fighting people who hadn’t got a single will to fight, anyway.”

“What do you mean by that?” shouted Kagura, as she slowly stood up and dusted off the dirt out of her clothes, and sat down next to Okita, a huge gap visible between the two of them. “If I felt like it you know, I could easily beat you to oblivion!”

“Yeah, yeah, as if you could, China.”

“Y-you sadist!”

Kagura waited for a reply from Okita, but to no avail. The two of them were silent for a few seconds, until the sadist decided to break the silence.

“It’s already 12 o’clock... aren’t you hungry? As far as I can remember, you always go home straight during these times, China.”

A few more seconds have passed before Kagura could even give her reply.

“No one was home anyway,” she then said, and looked at sky, even though her umbrella managed to ruin her view of it.

“And what do you mean by that?”

“Shinpachi went out for an Otsuu Fanclub general meeting, Tsukky went outside for a bit to take a stroll around, and Gin-chan.. well… he…”

Sensing that the source of her distress was the Yorozuya boss, Okita then looked at Kagura. “What about Danna?”

Kagura gulped for a second. “Gin-chan was always outside as of late, and he comes back home late at night..”

“So.. he’s not there?”

“Yeah,” she replied while she gave him a nod, and looked at Okita. “Sadist… have you… have you seen Gin-chan?”

Danna… you seem to have a knack on making people so worried about you nowadays.

“Well, I do see Danna from time to time, though I haven’t seen him today…”

Kagura looked away, a saddened expression now plastered on her face. “I see—”

“—But just so you know, I do think that Danna’s quite busy about something… I just hope he won’t get into trouble again.”

**XOXOXOX**

Tsukuyo found no one home when she arrived at the Yorozuya Gin-chan. Even though she was quite used to it, she felt quite lonely that she had no other companion for that day. However, when she saw Sadaharu slumped lazily on the floor, she smiled to herself.

I guess it’s just you and me today, huh?

Placing the bag of groceries atop the table, she sat on the couch, and gave a deep sigh. She was in-charge of buying the groceries today, so she went out to buy some, but she didn’t expect to be alone when she came back. Feeling bored, she reached out for the remote control and turned the TV on.

Flipping through the channels, she saw the weather forecast by a reporter named Ketsuno Ana, who was also the object of the affections of Sakata Gintoki. She remembered seeing him go gaga over her and cheer over her like a true fanboy, and she was amused to see such a cute side of him, even for a little while.

She then switched to the next channel.

Ding-dong.

Hearing the doorbell ring, she immediately turned the TV off and made her way towards the entrance. As she slid the shoji door open, she found herself facing one of Gintoki’s closest buddies, the Madao, Hasegawa Taizou.

“Ah, hello there. Is Gin-san home?”

“Gintoki’s not here,” she replied, and took a step back as if inviting him to come inside. “But you can wait for him if you want.”

“Ah, no, it’s alright, I guess he’s still around the town, eh? Well, thanks for the offer anyway, but I better go.”

And with that, he was gone. She slid the shoji door shut, and was about to go back to the living room, when suddenly, the doorbell rang once again.

When she slid the shoji door open, what greeted her was no other than Shinpachi’s sister, Shimura Tae.

“Ara, Tsukuyo-san, it’s been a while. Is Gin-san around? I would like to give him these tamagoyaki I’ve cooked a while ago…Shin-chan didn’t dare to eat them, you see.”

Despite the fact that Tsukuyo knew about the existence of the “dark matter,” she accepted it anyway, as she did not want to be on the receiving end of her wrath.

When Otae left and Tsukuyo was about to go back, the doorbell rang again, and this time, the visitors were Yagyuu Kyuubei and her ever loyal servant, Toujo Ayumu.

“Excuse me, but is Gintoki around? I heard that Tae-chan gave him something, so I came here to retrieve that. Is that okay?”

“But Young Master! It is better if you wear those goth-loli dresses which I’ve bought for you abroad! Come, Young Master, let’s go back to the Yagyuu-ke..”

Tsukuyo, without any hint of hesitation, gave the tamagoyaki to Kyuubei, which she happily received. Kyuubei then marched away, with Toujo following her shortly.

As Tsukuyo closed the shoji, she sighed. I bet there’ll be someone else to come and look for Gintoki again, I just know it…

And so the bell rang again. This time, what faced her was Terada Ayano, whom she knew as “Otose.”

“Is Gintoki around? If he’s not, you better tell him that the DVD player that he fixed yesterday was broken again. Tell him to come down at once when he gets home.”

The fourth person to look for Gintoki that day was no other than Gintoki’s personal stalker, Sarutobi “Sacchan” Ayame.

“Is Gin-san around? Tell him once he comes home that I’m already his for the taking! By the way Tsukky, don’t you dare get close to my Gin-san, do you hear me?”

The fifth person—or rather, monster—to look for Gintoki was their next door neighbor, Hedoro.

“The town council said that I should pass these flyers to the neighbors next door..”

But he was unable to continue the rest of his sentence as Tsukuyo gave him a quick thanks, grabbed the flyers on his hands, and closed the shoji door immediately.

The sixth person to look for Gintoki was the spy for the Shinsengumi, Yamazaki Sagaru.

“Is Danna around? I just realized that I forgot to give these to him the other day. If you could, then please give it to him.”

When Yamazaki left and Tsukuyo closed the shoji, she opened the envelope that the anpanboy had given her, and saw pieces of paper filled with indescribable writing—one was filled with anpan, while the other was filled with Tama-san, and all of it were written hundreds of times until the whole page was filled with it. Unable to comprehend what it was, she placed it back inside the envelope, and went to the living room. But before she could even sit on the couch, the doorbell rang once again.

Irritated, Tsukuyo went to the entrance once more and slid the shoji door open. “Okay, if you’re looking for Gintoki then he’s not—oh, Gintoki. You’ve finally arrived.”

In front of her stood Gintoki, the man that the people that came earlier had been looking for. His hand inside his kimono and his other hand atop of his already messy hair, he went inside and proceeded to the living room, and sat down the couch with a thump.

“You sound like we’ve been having lots of customers today,” he said, and gave a small yawn. “Though I guess it’s not just possible..”

“We ain’t got any customers, but we do have a lot of visitors. All of them have been looking for you, Gintoki.”

Gintoki looked at her with those lazy-looking eyes of his. “For me? Nah, that’s impossible, just impossible.”

Ding-dong.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Gintoki rushed to the entrance, with Tsukuyo following him shortly thereafter. When he saw the mug-face of Hata-ouji—Baka-ouji, as he would like to call him—together with his lackey, Jii, he closed the door shut.

“Oi! Why’d you close the door? I’m a prince you know! I’m just gonna make you find Pesu! Jii, do something!”

“I don’t wanna, Baka-ouji.”

“Oi, did you just call me baka? Did you just call me an idiot, huh?”

Unable to take it any longer, Gintoki opened the shoji door once again, and kicked the two of them to oblivion. When he closed the door shut and walked off, the doorbell rang again, much to his dismay.

When he opened the door, what greeted him was a face he abhorred and did not want to see ever again—it was Hamko.

He closed the door shut.

“Oi! Why’d you close the door? This is my only appearance after how many years! And this is not even the canon, it’s a friggin’ fanfic! Open the door!”

On the other side of the door, Gintoki grumbled in annoyance. “Dammit! I’ll give you 300 yen, just go away! Why do annoying people always come here? They don’t even give me money—”

Seeing Gintoki so troubled, Tsukuyo gave a sigh.

“Is it money that you want? I could give you lots! But it’s not me who needed help, it’s my friend!”

Hearing Hamko’s words, Gintoki opened the shoji once again and took a good look at his visitors. One was Hamko, who looked more like a pig as compared to the last time he had seen her, and together with her was a teenaged girl with long, auburn hair, and upon seeing Gintoki, she bowed in response.

“Uh, I’m Hayasegawa Mikako, n-nice to meet you, Yorozuya-san..”

Gintoki was flabbergasted at the sudden introduction of the girl that he could only stutter on his reply. “S-same here. I’m the boss of the Yorozuya, Sakata Gintoki. Come on in.”

Hamko went in first, but Gintoki stopped her.

“Oh, thanks for bringing us a customer, but you can go now.”

Despite Hamko’s complaints, Gintoki slid the shoji door shut, and went to the living room.

**XOXOXOX**

  
“Uh.. so… what you’ve wanted for us to do was to conduct an investigation about your boyfriend?”

The girl, Mikako, looked at Gintoki with eyes full of worry that even he was unable to look at her straight in the eye.

“That’s right, Sakata-san. I’m quite anxious about this, but I could feel that he’s been desperately hiding something from me. I’m worried that he—”

“—Uh, Gin-san’s fine you know, you can call me that..”

“Ah, yes, then Gin-san it is. Gin-san… the money’s no problem at all.. I just wanted to make sure if he’s hiding something from me, or something like that..”

Gintoki grumbled in response. He was excited about having a job, since there had been a few jobs for them nowadays, but…this? This was an absolutely troublesome job, and they’ll be invading someone’s privacy if they did this—so should he decline the job?

And besides, he had other businesses to attend to…he had no time for these kinds of jobs.

He scanned the area, thinking of some ways in order to accept the job without his involvement. When he saw Tsukuyo, he smirked in response.

“Well then, Hayasegawa-san.. you opt to assume that your boyfriend is having an affair, right?”

Mikako nodded. “Yes. I have a feeling that he’s been having an affair, but sometimes, I had a feeling that it might just be more than that.. but I don’t know, it’s just.. that I… I…”

“Ah yes… then we accept the job. Surely, a girl knows best about relationships, right, Tsukuyo?”

Flabbergasted, Tsukuyo glared at Gintoki. “And what do you mean by that, you bastard?”

“What do I mean by that? Well, surely, you’ll take up the job, right? I mean, Kagura’s too young to understand about those kinds of things, and Shinpachi’s too much of a cherry boy for that, and I’m a guy, so I wouldn’t know about that. Take the job, Tsukky.”

“Huh? And don’t you call me Tsukky now you permhead! And you just want to toss your entire job onto me, right? You just want to lessen your workload, but still earn the entire sum of money!”

“Oh? But aren’t you from Yoshiwara? You have lots of experience!”

“So what if I’m from Yoshiwara? I’m not a courtesan! I’m a guard, dammit!”

“Oh, I forgot,” chirped Gintoki, and looked at her mischievously. “I forgot that we still have a lil’ maiden left in Yoshiwara… oh how could I forget?”

Hearing this irked the hell out of Tsukuyo that she grabbed him by the collar and strangled him. “Are you making fun of me, huh, Gintoki? Do you wanna see hell this early?”

Seeing the increasing tension between the two, Hayasegawa Mikako tried to stop them.

“Gin-san, Tsukuyo-san… that’s enough already.. please calm down..”

Gintoki and Tsukuyo stopped upon hearing their client’s request. Both were still irritated by the other, but since a customer was here, then they should try their hardest to welcome her. They should save the chaos for later.

Gintoki then looked at Tsukuyo at the corner of his eye. “Take the job, Tsukuyo. Aren’t you saying that we haven’t got any jobs lately? Then there, it’s all yours.”

“You just wanted to be free of your workload, don’t you?” she muttered under her breath, and gave a deep sigh. “Alright. I’ll take the job, Hayasegawa-san. We’ll start the investigations tomorrow.”

**XOXOXOX**

  
A man was walking down a small, dark alleyway, with only a candle serving as his light. Together with him were two armed men, supposedly his guards, who walked behind him as he continued on trudging down the narrow alley.

The man, with shoulder-length, flowing auburn hair, stopped on his tracks as he noticed the presence of someone in front of them.

“Uehara-sama,” said one of the armed men, as if informing him that the person that just was in front of them was someone dangerous.

But the auburn-haired man, known as Uehara Zennosuke, just ignored his subordinate’s notion. He took a step forward, and walked towards the man, much to the guards’ ire.

“It’s alright. He’s with us,” he then said, and raised his hand as if to stop his subordinates from doing anything unnecessary.

He then looked at the person in front of him. He took the candle closer, and the guards were astounded to see a shinobi in front of them.

“Uehara-sama, t-that’s..!”

“Don’t worry about it, I know what I am doing,” he replied, and brought his attention back to the shinobi in front of him. “So, what it is this time?”

“Preparations are ready, Uehara-sama. There would be someone to escort you upon your arrival.”

“Thank you. You may go now.”

And with a nod, the shinobi vanished in a flash. However, the two subordinates behind Uehara stood in surprise, not because of the fact that they have seen a ninja vanish suddenly, but because of what they just learned earlier.

“Uehara-sama, is it true that you’re going to go there?”

Uehara Zennosuke gave a small chuckle before he continued on walking down the alleyway once again.

“Yes, I’m going… I’m going to Kabuki-chou, and finally… I’ll be able to take my hands on her.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • “Tadaima” – I’m back  
> • “Okaeri” – Welcome home. Shortened form of Okaerinasai.  
> • “Urusai aru” – “-aru” is Kagura’s standard end for her sentences. Urusai means “shut up.”  
> • Danna – In this context, then Yorozuya boss.  
> • Okyaku-san – customer  
> • Gian, Shizuka-chan, Nobita – characters from Doraemon. Gian was the big guy who always bullies Nobita, and Shizuka was Nobita’s crush.  
> • Take-copter – if you watch Doraemon, then you should be familiar with the propeller-like thingy that Doraemon puts on his head in order to fly.  
> • Roman – Saotome Roman from the series Sket Dance. She’s a girl who’s trying to become a shoujo mangaka despite her horrible art, and it has been a running gag in the series that whenever she attempts to create a manga of her own, it would always start with a girl running down the street with a piece of bread on her mouth, while saying, “I’m late, I’m late!”  
> • Tatami – a straw mat, used especially in Japanese homes as a floor covering.  
> • Zabuton – floor cushion  
> • Planet Namek – One of the planets in Dragon Ball.  
> • Piccolo – A character from Dragon Ball.  
> • Shenlong – or Shenron from Dragon Ball. It is said that once you have collected the seven dragon balls, then Shenlong would appear and grant your wish.  
> • Fusuma – sliding doors which are used as partitions on the rooms in the house.  
> • Shinobi – ninja  
> • The historical Sonjouroushi’s goal is seen at their slogan during the Bakumatsu period, the “Sonnou-Joui”—that is, to “Revere the Emperor, and Expel the Barbarians.” During the time that Commodore Perry had opened the seas of Japan to foreigners, Japan was under the rule of the Shogunate (bakufu).The fact that the Tokugawa bakufu was powerless against the foreigners despite the will expressed by the Imperial court was taken as evidence by Yoshida Shōin and other anti-Tokugawa leaders that the sonnō (revere the Emperor) portion of the philosophy was not working, and that the bakufu must be replaced by a government more able to show its loyalty to the Emperor by enforcing the Emperor’s will.  
> • Sadasada – spoiler for the current manga arc. (Oh I’m so sorry!)  
> • Daimyo – a great Japanese feudal lord who was a vassal of the emperor.  
> • Shinsengumi general meeting on Fridays? I just made that one up. Hehehe.. =P


	5. Secrets wouldn’t be secrets forever, as much as promises are always made to be broken.

A certain blonde-haired girl sighed in silence as she found herself in a hideous situation.

She was the leader of the Hyakka. Sure, her job sometimes required her to do some stakeout, but she never realized that she’d stoop so low that she’d even resort to stalking someone like this. This is certainly not her style, and her irritation only increased in spades as Hayasegawa Mikako, the client that requested their services yesterday, did not even seem to be giving up.

It was 7 o’clock in the morning when she dropped by the Yorozuya Gin-chan to fetch Tsukuyo. As expected, Kagura and Shinpachi tried to assist her, but Gintoki seemed indifferent about it, saying that they should do other things, and that they should leave Mikako’s request to her, since it was all about “girl-talk.” And with that, Tsukuyo and Mikako left the Yorozuya office, leaving a bloodied Gintoki on the floor, with a kunai stuck on his forehead.

At first, the kunoichi was glad to be of service to both Mikako and the Yorozuya, but it did not seem to be the case now. A few hours have passed ever since they’ve left to observe Mikako’s boyfriend, but nothing has changed—all that Tsukuyo can see was that Mikako’s boyfriend was certainly your genuine idiotic-type of a boyfriend, and nothing that can be called close to an “affair” could be traced on his actions.

They’ve been strolling through the streets of Kabuki-chou the whole day, and Tsukuyo was really getting tired of it. They’ve been following him like some damn stalker that it can even be considered a miracle that the guy they’ve been following didn’t even notice their presence. But even so, her patience is running out. Can’t this girl even realize that her boyfriend was just passing his day ordinarily, and that there weren’t even hints of an affair at all?

The whole day, all that her boyfriend did was to stroll along the streets, checking stalls and other shops, despite not buying anything. He appeared to go around the houses for census-taking, so Tsukuyo assumed that it was his job. After work, he went straight to the pachinko parlor, and he did not come out ever since then. Hence, she and Mikako were also in the pachinko parlor, hiding and observing the oblivious man.

Tsukuyo gazed at the digital clock on the wall. It was now six o’clock in the afternoon, and it was certainly getting late, so she needed to put this investigation into a halt since in her opinion, they were just wasting their time. She had so many things to do in the Yorozuya, and she even had enough problems about a certain silver-haired samurai, so she doesn’t need anything that would even add up to her worries…

But still, doesn’t Gintoki like to go to the pachinko parlor during these hours?

Faced with that question, Tsukuyo realized that ever since she had entered the establishment, she hadn’t seen a single trace of him. She was worried about him, that much is a fact, but still, she expected that something like this would happen, since he was really acting weird these past few days…

“T—Tsukuyo-san..”

The nudging of her companion snapped Tsukuyo out of her thoughts. She then looked at her warily, her earlier irritation still apparent on her face. “What is it, Hayasegawa-san?”

“I.. I think we’ve done enough for today, sorry for the trouble..”

So this girl’s aware of the trouble she’d caused, huh?

“It’s fine, it’s my job after all,” replied Tsukuyo as she stood out of their hiding place and exited the pachinko parlor, with Mikako following her shortly thereafter. As soon as they were out of the aforementioned establishment, Mikako then stopped on her tracks, which caught Tsukuyo’s attention.

“What’s the matter, Hayasegawa-san? The stakeout was successful, even though that guy hasn’t done anything suspicious, right?”

Mikako smiled at her. “It’s nothing. Say, Tsukuyo-san… I wanted to thank you for hanging out with me the whole day, so would you mind going out with me for a while? It’s my treat.”

“Eh? N-no, it’s fine, and I was about to go home anyway, you don’t need to do something like that, I—”

“It’s fine! Think of this as both of an apology and a token of gratitude from me!”

With those words, and with Mikako’s forcefulness being a huge factor, Tsukuyo was unable to protest any longer and thus was left with no other choice but to follow her as the girl continued on pulling her towards a sweets shop.

**XOXOXOX**

“Two orders of chocolate parfait special, here it is. Enjoy.”

As Mikako thanked the waitress with a smile, she then looked at Tsukuyo who seemed to be staring at her glass of parfait in fascination. Seeing this, Mikako wondered in response, and smiled.

“What’s the matter, Tsukuyo-san? Dig in, it’s my treat.”

Tsukuyo then took a look at Mikako, and back to the glass of parfait in front of her. “Uh, t-thanks,” she stuttered, and dug her spoon on the dessert.

“Is it good? The parfaits they serve here are really good, and they’re my favorites. Is it your first time eating here?”

“Eh? Uh.. well.. yeah, kinda.”

And Tsukuyo stared at the spoon filled with parfait once again. Gulping for a second, she placed the spoon on her mouth and ate the parfait, then suddenly, she stopped on her tracks.

It’s so good!

Tsukuyo was delighted at its taste. Now, she knew why Gintoki loved parfaits so much. She would definitely go back here again!

She dug her spoon on the dessert once again. She continued on eating, that she even forgot that her client, Mikako, was in front of her.

“I’m glad that you seemed happier now, Tsukuyo-san,” Mikako then said, “You seemed to be giving off bad vibes earlier, you see.”

Tsukuyo continued on being fascinated on her glass of parfait, despite the fact that from a bystander’s point of view, she didn’t seem to be that fascinated.

“You seem to like parfaits. I’m glad we went here.”

Tsukuyo then looked at her, her cheeks tinged red, indicating her sheer embarrassment. “A-actually, it was my first time.”

“Huh?”

“Parfaits—it was my first time eating it.”

“…Eh? Seriously?”

“…Yeah.”

“B-but why?”

Tsukuyo then placed the spoon back on the glass of parfait, and looked away. “That’s because I simply opted not to eat something so exquisite. And besides, it was only recently that we’ve had some delicacies like that on our place..”

“Your place? Where did you come from then?”

The blonde kunoichi then gave a sigh. “…Yoshiwara.”

“Eh? Yoshiwara… as in.. that Yoshiwara?”

“Yeah.”

As soon as Tsukuyo gave her response, Mikako then squealed so loud that even the other customers took a look at her. Tsukuyo, on the other hand, just stared at her in confusion.

“W-why are you acting like that? What’s the matter if I’m from Yoshiwara?”

“B-b-but..” Mikako said in-between squeals, “You’re from Yoshiwara! It only means that you’ve done this and that, right? Oh my, I’m so excited!

“What?”

“I heard that the women in Yoshiwara are real experts on those things! Man, I would love to go there! I wanted to see those women in action!”

Tsukuyo was dumbfounded at Mikako’s reaction that she could not help but to give her a confused stare. She seemed to be too excited by the fact that she came from Yoshiwara. Is that girl a pervert or something?

As if confirming her suspicions, she then noticed that Mikako even had a nosebleed from too much excitement, all the while mumbling to herself.

“So,” Mikako then nudged closer to Tsukuyo, and gave her a creepy smile. “Did you do it?”

“Excuse me?”

“Did you do it?”

“HELL NO! I’m not a courtesan!”

Hearing her reply, Mikako then looked at her closely for a few seconds, and gave her a blank stare. “That’s so boring.”

“What?”

“It never crossed my mind that there would still be a young maiden left in Yoshiwara... Well, if you aren’t a courtesan, what are you then?”

Tsukuyo tried to hold back her irritation at the woman in front of her.

This woman is pissing me off, seriously.

“My job is to protect is Yoshiwara. That’s all there is to it.”

Mikako, sensing Tsukuyo’s hesitation to tell her more than she had already said, can only give her a feeble smile. “I see then. That explains everything.”

An awkward silence was then formed between the two of them as they continued on eating their dessert. However, once Tsukuyo had finished her glass of parfait and settled her spoon back on the table, she then looked at Mikako.

“Forgive me for my rudeness, but there’s one thing I wanted to ask you..”

Mikako stared at her, as if waiting for her to continue.

“Why… are you so intent about that man? There’s nothing wrong with his actions, is there?”

Faced with that question, Mikako then gave a melancholic expression that even the Shinigami tayuu regretted that she had ever asked it.

“U-uh… I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that, Hayasegawa-san. It’s my bad—”

“…It’s because I love him.”

Hearing those words, Tsukuyo can only stare at her in disbelief.

…Because you…love him?

“It may seem stupid, but it’s the truth. It’s because I love him that I was able to go through such absurd lengths…”

Tsukuyo, not knowing how to answer, just stared back at her.

“You see, love is really a strange thing. Once you fell in love, there’s no more going back. Hell, even I didn’t know why I fell for that guy,” said Mikako with a bittersweet smile, blushing.

Mikako then closed her eyes, as if she was reminiscing the past. “The only thing I’ve realized was that it was only a matter of time before I became too much affected by him, that I worry about him about every little thing, that I think about him wherever I go, that the both of us understand each other, support each other, and now that he seemed so distant, I wanted to help him in every way I can, since I can tell that he’s become so distant because he’s hiding something from me.”

Tsukuyo then looked away, and fell in a complete silence. “If you can tell that he’s troubled about something, then why don’t you confront him about it? Stalking him won’t do you anything good, you know.”

“B-but..”

“If he truly loves you, then he won’t hide anything from you. At least I know that much.”

Mikako then looked down, tearing her gaze away from Tsukuyo. “But there is an instance that because one loves you, he would hide something desperately for your sake. Such a love exists, you know.”

“But that’s—”

“—It’s absurd, I know,” she then replied, and put her gaze back to Tsukuyo. “But such a thing happens. Sure, the idea may seem absurd, but in their point of view, such a decision was right. I understand if he might be thinking that way, but even so, I want to help him…”

Tsukuyo then took a good look at Mikako, stood up, and smiled at her. “I understand,” she then said, “I’ll try my best to help you then. But even so, it’ll be for the best if you managed to talk to him.”

Mikako then followed suit, and smiled back at her. “I guess I have no other choice, huh? I’ll try to talk to him tomorrow.”

As Tsukuyo and Mikako went out of the shop and bid their goodbyes to one another, Mikako then called out Tsukuyo’s attention.

“What is it, Hayasegawa-san?” asked Tsukuyo, stopping on her tracks.

“Um.. I.. well.. thank you. Thank you for everything, and see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

“I wish the best for you and your husband! Good luck!”

Tsukuyo then glared daggers at the poor girl. “H-husband? I ain’t got a husband!”

“But wasn’t Gin-san your husband?”

“He’s not! Stop making false accusations!”

**XOXOXOX**

It was a cold night. Tsukuyo, fully dressed on her night clothes and now lying on the futon, was still having some trouble sleeping.

Gintoki arrived early that night, so she also went to bed early, as there was no more reason for her to stay awake, and besides, it was bedtime for all the occupants of the house. Kagura was already fast asleep on her closet, and Gintoki then went straight to the couch after eating and changing his clothes. They haven’t even held their nightly talking sessions for that day, though Tsukuyo did not mind that fact, since she can easily see that the silver-haired samurai was really exhausted.

She then tossed and turned on her futon, and finally stared at the ceiling. She tried her hardest to sleep, but all her efforts were in vain as her earlier conversation with Hayasegawa Mikako kept on coming to her mind.

(…It’s because I love him.)

It’s not like she was disagreeing with Mikako’s outlook but... was it really like that? Would love really drive someone to the brink of insanity? She did not understand the logic behind that, but even so, she knew that something like that wouldn’t even be explained by logic, since it all depends on the heart itself…

Still, it’s not like she knew what that emotion really is, though. As far as she had known, even though she had experienced “familial” love, as for romantic love, then that is…well, that’s impossible, since she had already given up on being a woman ever since she had scarred her face.

But still, if she ever goes back on being a woman again… what would happen?

She believed that if she hadn’t scarred her face, then she might’ve been able to live a different life. She even told Gintoki the exact, same thought at their first trip on the zashiki, after she had beaten the hell out of him due to her drunkenness. And even though he told her otherwise some time ago, and she was able to deprive herself of that thought, the idea still lingered on her mind…

Ever since she came back to the Yorozuya Gin-chan, she kept on thinking about her conversation with Mikako. It was one of the rare instances where she had actually engaged on such girlish things, since most of the time, all that she did was work, work, and work. And since that kind of talk was a first for her, it remained on her mind the whole time.

And since it occupied her thoughts, she did not even realize the reasons for her actions earlier—she had already grabbed the telephone and called Yoshiwara, but when Hinowa answered, she already got back to her senses and she immediately hung up.

She can’t believe that she was planning on asking Hinowa about such nonsensical things.

“What am I doing?” she then muttered to herself, her arm covering her face in embarrassment. “I can’t believe I’m thinking of such sappy thoughts now… It’s out of character for me..”

Being in a relationship, huh?

She then turned around, and closed her eyes.

I wonder if I’ll ever have one…

XOXOXOX

“Tsukuyo-san! I’m back here again!”

Tsukuyo only looked at the girl in front of her. Hayasegawa Mikako was back, and they are going to continue their stakeout once again. The shinigami courtesan can only sigh in exasperation.

“So,” she then asked Mikako, “did you talk to him yet?”

Mikako then looked at her, and smiled. “Nope, I haven’t yet. But I plan to do that today… or maybe later.”

“Quite hesitant, aren’t you?”

The girl can only giggle in reply. “Well, yeah. Kinda.”

Tsukuyo was about to go out the entrance when suddenly, Gintoki appeared behind her. She and Mikako can only look at him in response.

“G-Gintoki..”

“Hm? What’s the commotion all about?” said Gintoki, who then walked closer towards the two women. “I thought you’ll gonna handle this easily, Tsukuyo. Haven’t you said that earlier? Weren’t you finished yet?”

“What does it look like to you, dumbass? But we were about to finish this anyway, so we’ll go now.”

Gintoki then gave a huge yawn as Tsukuyo and Mikako walked away from him, heading towards the stairs. He then looked at Tsukuyo at the corner of his eye.

Tsukuyo seemed occupied by something—that was what he noticed yesterday. Ever since she came back from work, her mind seemed to be somewhere else that she didn’t even listen to half of what he was saying when he talked to her last night. Assuming that it was because Tsukuyo found the case a bit difficult, he then grumbled and followed the two women downstairs.

“Hey wait,” he called out, “I’ll come with you.”

Tsukuyo glared at Gintoki. “Huh? Why?”

“I just wanted to. What’s wrong with that?”

“Everything’s wrong. Are you trying to imply that I can’t do this by myself?”

“Oi, oi, don’t put words on my mouth, you girlie! I’m just making sure our client’s request got finished well!”

“Really, huh? Well, don’t you dare complain to me if you ever found this boring.”

**XOXOXOX**

The silver-haired samurai with a perm, Sakata Gintoki, felt irritated with the tick of every second. Sure, he insisted to join Tsukuyo on their stakeout on Mikako’s boyfriend, but never did he expect something like this. It was a complete waste of time. He shouldn’t have done this at all.

Now, he really salutes the Shinsengumi spy, Yamazaki Sagaru, for doing this kind of job. It’s not an easy job at all—though it wasn’t easy to do Odd Jobs, either.

He then took a look at both his companions, Tsukuyo and Hayasegawa Mikako, as they continued on walking down the streets of Kabuki-chou, following their target. They followed him discreetly, he was sure of that, since the guy wasn’t able to notice their presence. However, Gintoki didn’t care about that at all… what he cared about was when this stakeout would finally end.

Ever since they followed him, he only went to one place: the convenience store. He stayed there for hours, since it was his turn to tend to the store, and hence, they had no other choice but to wait. It was until lunch break that he finally went out, and walked to the streets of Kabuki-chou.

The man-in-question then stopped on his tracks, much to Gintoki’s surprise. The guy looked around, as if checking if there was someone following him, and then, he walked towards a certain establishment.

That establishment… is no other than the Okama Bar.

“OIIII! What’s up with this kind of development? Why the hell do you have to build up the suspense, huh? It’s friggin’ annoying! And why did that guy go to the Okama Bar? Does he like fuglies that much? Is he a homosexual with no taste for partners at all?”

Gintoki then stopped on his ranting when he noticed a kunai on his forehead. He then looked behind him, finding a pissed Tsukuyo beside a crying Mikako.

“Be quiet, Gintoki! Read the mood, will ya?”

“Hell yeah, as if I could calm down, dammit! We’re in front of a friggin’ dungeon for fuglies, you know!”

“Gintoki!”

The permhead then found himself pinned down against the wall by a barrage of kunais. He gulped in response.

“Uh… okay, forgive my insolence, Hayasegawa-san,” he replied, taking the kunais off of him one by one. “Maybe… just maybe… your boyfriend was just out there for deliveries—that convenience store may have a delivery service, we’ll never know…”

Despite his consoling, Mikako still continued to cry.

“B-but.. he was.. Hiroshi-kun was…”

“I’m sure that your boyfriend’s got reasons why he went there. Don’t be too hard on yourself,” consoled Tsukuyo, as she rubbed the poor girl’s back with the palm of her hand.

“…But—”

Gintoki then looked at the crying girl in front of him. Sure, he might be mean and may be somewhat of a jerk, but he was certainly not heartless. He could tell that Mikako was really depressed.

He then crossed his arms on his chest, and looked away.

“Do you really think that crying your eyes out of this without doing anything would solve your problems? Do you actually think that he’ll come back to you like magic, if you ever cried for his sake? I don’t think so..”

“Gintoki..!”

He then took a step forward, and walked towards the entrance of the Okama Bar.

“If you’ve got the time to cry about your assumptions, then why don’t you just waste your time on actually finding out the truth about it?”

Tsukuyo, hearing his words, can only stare back at him, her mouth agape.

“Stand up, wipe off your tears, and walk forward. Approach him. Ask him about the truth. And if you finally got a real reason to cry, cry your eyes out until snot comes out of your nose. At least, the next time you see him it’ll be all better, right?

Mikako just stared at him, as if trying to process what he had just said. Wiping off her tears with a handkerchief, she looked at Tsukuyo, then back to Gintoki, and she smiled, her eyes full of newfound resolve.

“Thank you Gin-san, Tsukuyo-san… I’ll do my best. I’ll ask him the truth right here and now.”

And with a slight bow, Mikako then disappeared into the establishment, leaving Tsukuyo and Gintoki on their own devices.

Tsukuyo then held her kiseru back to her lips, and smiled. “At least I’m glad that she finally mustered some courage on confronting him. Now, we just have to wait and see what happens.”

Gintoki was about to give his reply when suddenly, he saw something familiar cross the passageway on the other side of the street. And it’s not just familiar at all—the weird feeling he got back at the Sonjouroushi quarters, that flowing, shoulder-length auburn hair…

“Hm? What’s wrong, Gintoki?”

Gintoki seemed to ignore Tsukuyo’s question as he tried to process what he had just seen.

…There’s no mistaking it. It’s that creepy guy from before.

Realizing this, Gintoki then chased after the man without a second thought, which surprised Tsukuyo.

“G—Gintoki? Where are you going? Oi, Gintoki!”

Seeing that calling him won’t be enough just to gain his attention, she then chased after him.

That idiot… what the hell’s up with him?

**XOXOXOX**

“The daimyo sure is late… I wonder what happened?”

The mayonnaise-loving vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toushirou, can only stare back at the man in front of him as he sat on a zabuton, and puffed out some smoke. “There’s no helping it, Kondou-san,” he then said, “Bakufu officials had always been like that—you know, kinda selfish.”

“Well, I do hope that nothing bad has happened to him though, Toushi… If there is, then we’re in big trouble.”

“We’ve already sent Squadrons 2 and 3 for the escort job... though I think that it’ll be better if we just come there ourselves.”

Kondou then stood up and went towards the shoji, and leaned his back on it, crossing his arms across his chest. “I’m sure that they could take care of the job. Just trust them on this. And besides, there have been reports of a possible ambush here at the Shinsengumi headquarters, so it would be for the best if we stay here.”

Hijikata then tore away his gaze from his commander, and looked at the skies, which can be seen through his seat. “Maybe it is… I—”

Ring… ring…

He was cut off by a ring on his cellphone. He then grabbed it and placed it on his ear, and listened to the person on the other line. It was no other than the Shinsengumi spy, Yamazaki Sagaru.

“What is it, Yamazaki?”

‘Fukuchou! It’s bad news, the daimyo was just with us a while ago… but he… when we were near the quarters he said that he’ll just gonna take a leak but suddenly he disappeared!’

“WHAT? GO FIND HIM YOU DUMBASS! What do you guys think you’re doing, letting a VIP go away like that? And if he’s just gonna take a leak, then why haven’t you gone with him?”

‘B-but he’s embarrassed! That’s why we went to a stop for the public toilet!’

“To the public toilet my ass! You should have just let him do his business behind a tree or something!”

‘F-Fukuchou!’

“JUST GO AND FIND HIM!”

And with that statement, the oni no fukuchou then hung up on the other line. Kondou Isao, who also heard the conversation earlier, squatted on the tatami, and looked at Hijikata with a troubled expression.

“Kondou-san, the daimyo was missing, we should just—”

“Toushi,” he then cut him off, his eyes full of resolve. “Call the remaining Shinsengumi in the barracks. I would like to talk to them as soon as possible.”

Hijikata was about to go outside to do what Kondou had told him when suddenly, the Shinsengumi first squad captain, Okita Sougo, came into view.

“There’s no need for that, Kondou-san. We’ve got no worries now.”

With that statement, both Kondou and Hijikata can only look at him, astounded.

“S-Sougo! What do you mean by that?”

Sougo then gave them a smile. “The daimyo’s here.”

“Then that’s good! Didn’t you hear that Toushi? Sougo said that the daimyo was here! The escort work was a success!”

Hijikata grabbed a cigarette from his jacket, and lighted it with his mayo lighter. He then gave a bored glare towards Sougo. “I don’t know, Kondou-san, I just don’t know… Oi, Sougo, explain yourself.”

“Do I really have to, Hijikata-san? Well, I just have to do it, right?” replied Sougo, and took a step forward, his left hand holding a long metal chain.

Hijikata’s irritation increased in spades. “Oi, it’s not what I think it is, right?”

Sougo pulled the chain again, and this time, what greeted them was the sight of a man wearing a leash on his neck, with the chain being connected to it. He walked on fours, akin to a dog on a leash.

“I KNEW IT! Sougo, you sadistic bastard! Just how much of a sadist are you? We have a real problem here and you still intend to do a friggin’ joke?”

“Don’t be so stiff, Hijikata-san. Here is the daimyo, can’t you see? Look, he’s even wearing clothes fit for a royalty.”

“Dressing him up as such doesn’t mean that he’s the actual person, dammit! Sougo, don’t play around!”

“Now, now,” Sougo then replied, as he looked at the leashed man beside him. “Well then, attack Hijikata. Feel free to kill him if you like.”

“You bastard!”

Kondou then walked towards Sougo, and placed a hand on his back. “Sougo,” he started, “where’d you get the clothes?”

“Kondou-san, you’re missing the point! And Sougo, if you’ve got time to play around, then why won’t you just waste your time on finding the real daimyo instead?”

“That’s troublesome…”

Hijikata glared back at him. “What?”

“Well, anyway, if I ever find the real daimyo, then I’ll make sure he also goes through this, Hijikata-san.”

“Don’t you dare try that either, you bastard!”

**XOXOXOX**

Gintoki breathed heavily as he continued to chase after the mysterious man. The guy was running too fast, and even though Gintoki himself was quite a fast runner, he still cannot catch up to him.

“WAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! STOP RIGHT THERE! DON’T YOU DARE ESCAPE FROM ME!”

But the man still continued on running, and ignored the silver-haired samurai behind him. They then crossed a dark, isolated alleyway near the sewer.

“I SAID WAIT UP! DIDN’T YOU HEAR WHAT I’VE SAID? STOP!”

Gintoki was furious. He needed to catch up to that man no matter what it takes. He had spent weeks looking for any sign of him, and he even asked Zura’s help, but to no avail… and when all hope is lost and he was about to give up, he’ll just appear in front of him like all his efforts were for nothing at all?

Don’t you dare mess with me, you piece of shit!

Ever since their encounter at the Sonjouroushi barracks, he had been unsettled. There are so many things he wanted to ask him, there are so many things he wanted to know, there are so many things he wanted to clarify…

And now that he had finally appeared in front of him, after weeks of desperation, he would not let this chance slip out of his fingers.

“I SAID… DON’T YOU DARE IGNORE ME..!”

He then took out his bokutou and ran faster, and threw it like a spear…and the bokutou then connected to guy’s hat, and was stuck to the ground, revealing his face.

Gintoki, upon seeing that guy’s face, was enraged.

“You… so you really are that man, huh? Well then, you Sonjouroushi guy, just what the fuck have you guys been doing? You’ve got some explaining to do, you filthy bastard…”

“As far as I have known, I have no obligations of answering you, Shiroyasha. Just go back and scram.”

“Oh, so you knew who I am, huh? Well that makes things easier.. You.. just who the hell are you?”

The man just stared back at Gintoki, looking uninterested. “I’ve told you, I have no obligations on answering you—”

“—Why… why do you have his picture?”

That man, hearing Gintoki’s words, smirked in response.

“A picture? What are you talking about? You’ve surely made me interested about this, Shiroyasha.”

Gintoki gritted his teeth. That damn bastard!

“Don’t you dare make a fool out of me! You know what I’m talking about! If else, why would I find a picture of Shouyou-sensei on your things?”

“A thief like you had no right to speak ill of me like that. But even so… that man… he was your teacher, huh? That Yoshida Shouyou…”

“So you knew about him then! Why… what is your motive? And why did you know about what happened on November 21st? ”

But before the man could reply, he ran away once again, much to Gintoki’s ire. The permhead then chased after him, but just as when the man had turned towards a curve, he was gone. Gintoki looked for him everywhere, but he could not find him.

Gintoki, now completely pissed off with what just happened, slammed his fist hard against the wall.

“You damn bastard… I swear… I’ll definitely get you next time..!”

Never did Gintoki notice that Tsukuyo was just a few meters behind him the entire time.

XOXOXOX

Yamazaki Sagaru was in a hurry. He was now back at the Shinsengumi Headquarters, and since what he was about to tell Kondou and Hijikata was an important matter, he needed to get there as fast as possible.

“Kyokuchou! Fukuchou! I’ve got the daimyo back with me!”

There was still no response from the Commander and the Vice-Commander. He then opened the tatami rooms one by one, and when he finally found the room where Kondou, Hijikata and Okita were currently staying at, he then opened the shoji and shouted…

“I’VE GOT THE DAIMYO BACK WITH ME!”

“SHUT UP! We heard you the first time!”

Yamazaki, surprised at Hijikata’s retort, fell into a complete mush that he was unable to form any coherent thought.

“B-but Fukuchou, I…”

“Yamazaki,” Kondou then called out, “where’s his excellency?”

“Oh, he was left under the care of Harada-san and the others,” he then replied, and looked towards the engawa. “I believe he was still there right now, though…”

Hearing that statement, Kondou, Hijikata and Okita all looked at Yamazaki with surprised faces. Sensing the tension rise all of a sudden, he felt awkward and gave a weird smile. “What’s the matter with you guys? Why are you so sullen all of a sudden?”

Kondou then pointed his finger towards Yamazaki’s direction. Confused, the anpanboy gave his commander a blank stare. “What is it, Kyokuchou? Is there something on my face?”

“B-behind you,” Kondou then muttered, and all of a sudden, he bowed down the floor. Hijikata and Okita followed him suit.

“Wait, why are you doing that, weren’t you—”

“—PLEASE FORGIVE US FOR ALL THE TROUBLE WE’VE CAUSED, YOUR EXCELLENCY!”

Confused at their sudden reaction, he then looked behind him and found a thin, old man with his white hair tied in a chonmage. He was dripping wet, and his clothes were all dirty with mud. Shocked at what he’d just seen, Yamazaki then did a dogeza in a split second.

“Please forgive my rudeness, your excellency! I haven’t realized that you were just behind me the whole time!”

Sensing the awkward atmosphere around him, the daimyo then laughed in response. “Please gentlemen, please don’t be so stiff around me. It’s alright to treat me normally.”

“B-but your excellency!”

“It’s alright. But before anything else, let me introduce myself. I am Ii Masayasu, a former daimyo for the Choshu region, and now I was appointed by the Seiitai Shogun as a roju. And due to such matters, and also due to the recent happenings here in Edo, I have come here to the Shinsengumi.”

“For a roju such as yourself to set foot on a rounin’s place such as ours… it’s a pleasure meeting you, your excellency,” said Kondou, who now looked at the man in front of them.

The roju smiled in return. “Please address me normally, Kondou-san. I would like to know more of Edo as I stay here. Usually I was just locked inside the castle and on Hagi, anyway.”

“A-as you wish, Masayasu-sama.”

Unable to take the roju’s appearance any longer, Hijikata then gave Yamazaki a piercing glare. “Oi, Yamazaki! Don’t just stand there, go bring Masayasu-sama a change of clothes!”

“R-roger that, Fukuchou!” replied Yamazaki as he sprinted down the engawa. Satisfied with his subordinate’s action, Hijikata then glared at Okita.

“Sougo,” he then whispered, “you better behave well..”

“Oh, of course I’ll behave well, Hijikata-san,” Okita whispered back, and gave a devilish smirk. “I’ll really behave well.”

“Oh, you better do—”

“Masayasu-sama,” Okita suddenly said, much to Hijikata’s ire, “please forgive my insolence, but I have a question for you.”

“Oi, Sougo! Didn’t I just tell you to behave?”

Ignoring Hijikata’s retorts, Yanagisawa Masayasu then looked at Okita, and smiled at him. “What is it, young man? Feel free to ask me anything.”

“Why are you dripping wet? And why are your clothes so muddy?”

The roju then looked at himself, and gave a loud chuckle. “Oh, this? That’s because I fell down the sewer… that’s also the reason why you guys had a hard time finding me, eheheh..”

Hearing his reply, the three Shinsengumi can only give an awkward laugh in response to the roju’s eccentricity.

**XOXOXOX**

It was early in the evening at the Yorozuya Gin-chan and as expected, Gintoki still wasn’t around. Shinpachi was still there, sweeping the floor, Kagura was in front of the TV, watching her favorite primetime dramas, and Tsukuyo, on the other hand, was at the balcony, gazing at the night skies by herself.

Tsukuyo was troubled. Ever since she came back home, earlier events kept on coming back to her head. She saw that creepy guy they met at the Sonjouroushi quarters once again—however, what surprised her was not the fact that he was there, but Gintoki’s reaction… She knew that he didn’t like that guy, and she also knew that he considered him and the Sonjouroushi as someone dangerous, but still, she did not expect such revelations to occur in front of her, and he wasn’t even aware of it.

Gintoki accused that guy of having his sensei’s picture, and of something related to November 21… Even though she was confused on what that meant, she knew that it was something important to him, and he’s desperately trying to find out more about it.

She then gave a deep sigh.

Of course Gintoki would want to know more about it—it was about his sensei, after all. Ever since their attack on the Edo Castle a few months back, she heard from Tokugawa Sadasada himself that Gintoki was an orphan from the Kansei Purge, that he was the legendary “Shiroyasha” from the Joui war, and that Yoshida Shouyou was his teacher… And since she had her shishou, Jiraia, on her case, she knew very well the pain he experienced on losing his beloved sensei—after all, she had experienced it when Jiraia “died” in front of her, after he had saved her from a fire many years ago.

Even though Jiraia may have faked his death during that time, the pain she felt from his supposed “death” was real. At that time, she kept on desperately searching for clues on what really happened that night that even the slightest hints pertaining to her master had driven her nuts. And, she was sure that Gintoki was going through the same thing too.

Although it was revealed that Sadasada was indeed the one who ordered his sensei’s arrest, she knew that despite it all, Gintoki still felt unease. Any mention of Yoshida Shouyou would put him in such a state that he was now, and she knew that unless it wasn’t resolved, nothing would change… He would keep on chasing after it.

If her master hadn’t revealed everything to her the last time they met, then most probably, she would still be in a similar situation to him.

She knew it, since she could relate to him—the pain of losing someone important, the pain of having no family, the pain of being alone in this world… and despite the fact that Gintoki was a strong man, she knew that even he had faults as well—such as his decision to keep everything about him a secret, even to the closest ones to him, Shinpachi and Kagura.

Upon following Gintoki earlier that day, she realized the reasons for his weird behavior—it was all because of his sensei. Apparently, Gintoki found something from that man’s belongings that had a connection to his sensei, and since he didn’t want them to be involved, he kept it to himself. However, was it really the right thing to do?

She did not know the reason why he had to keep all of those to himself. He kept on causing unnecessary trouble to those people around him. Why can’t he just tell them?

She was confused. She wanted to confront him about it, but she was hesitant.

Why is he keeping everything to himself?

(But there is an instance that because one loves you, he would hide something desperately for your sake. Such a love exists, you know.)

And at such an opportune moment, she remembered Hayasegawa Mikako’s words. She smiled bitterly.

So it was one of those examples, huh? Because Gintoki loves them, because he wants the best for them, he would try his best to keep it to himself… for their sake.

Gintoki… you’re such an idiot.

Tsukuyo then sighed for the umpteenth time that day, her worry for the silver-haired samurai still visible on her face. When she went inside the room, she then found Kagura munching some sukonbu while she watched TV, and Shinpachi was cleaning Gintoki’s desk as usual.

“Aaaah, Gin-san is so messy… Just look at the drawers in his desk, it’s a complete mess!”

Kagura, hearing Shinpachi woes, glared at him. “Don’t be such a nag, you damned glasses character. Are you trying your best to become a Yamato Nadeshiko now?”

“Why are you telling me to become a Yamato Nadeshiko? I ain’t a girl, dammit! Man, instead of watching TV you should just help me clean the house, you know..”

“I don’t wanna. I’m gonna watch my soaps, uh-huh!”

Shinpachi, though irritated at Kagura’s response, ignored it as he proceeded on continuing his cleaning. As he arranged Gintoki’s things atop the table, he then noticed something fall from the stack of papers in his hands.

Curious on what it was, Shinpachi looked down the floor and found something he did not expect to see.

It was a photo of someone with long, silky hair, and he held a textbook in his hands, his face obscured with his bangs.  
Shinpachi then took a good look at the photo in his hands, despite not knowing who it was. “Hmm? Why is there such a photo on Gin-san’s things? Kagura-chan, do you know this man?”

Hearing Shinpachi’s question made Kagura perk up in response. Still munching on her sukonbu, she then walked towards Shinpachi and looked at the photo in his hands.

“Nuh-uh. I don’t know that man, Shinpachi. Was it Gin-chan’s?”

“Yeah, I found it on his things,” Shinpachi then replied, and looked at Tsukuyo, who now sat on a couch in front of the TV.

“Tsukuyo-san,” called Shinpachi, “do you know anything about this?”

Hearing Shinpachi call her attention, she then looked back at him and noticed something in his hands—it was a photo of someone she hadn’t seen before.

That photo… can it be..?

Tsukuyo then walked towards the two Yorozuya, and took a good look at the photo. Seeing the photo in Shinpachi’s hands, she had a strong feeling in her gut that it really was the photo that made Gintoki act so distant towards them. However, since it was only a gut feeling, she shrugged it off.

“Hmm? Shinpachi, what’s this?” asked Kagura as she squatted on the floor, looking at the back of the photo. “There’s something written on the back of the photo. Look.”

Shinpachi, noticing Kagura’s inquiries, turned the photo around and took a good look at it. Seeing what was written at the back of the picture, he remained speechless in surprise.

On the other hand, Tsukuyo, who also looked at the photo, was shocked on what she had just seen.

 

 

_**11 月 21 日** _

__

There’s no doubt about it—it was the same photo that Gintoki had been talking about when he confronted that Sonjouroushi guy earlier. It was the same photo that made Gintoki on the state he was now. It was the same photo that was the source of all her worries… It was…

..It was the photo of Gintoki’s sensei.

“W-what is this? This… is this.. dried blood? W-why is such a thing in Gin-san’s possession? Why did this picture have such a creepy thing written on it? Why was the date written in such a way? I…I don’t even…”

Kagura, her accumulated anxiousness now completely visible in her expression, looked at Shinpachi with such worried eyes.

“S-Shinpachi… do you think that.. this is…?”

Shinpachi, who then gave the same expression as Kagura’s, nodded in response. “I.. I think so. M-maybe… this is… maybe this is the reason why Gin-san’s been acting so weird lately…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chonmage – is a form of Japanese traditional haircut worn by men. An example of this Tokugawa Shigeshige’s hairstyle.
> 
> Dogeza – is an element of Japanese manners by kneeling directly on the ground and bowing to prostrate oneself as touching one's head to the floor. It is used to show deference to the most highly-revered high-class person, as a deep apology and to express the desire for a favor from said person. 
> 
> Roju – The roju were the senior members of the shogunate. 
> 
> Ii Masayasu – Most of the members of the roju were limited to the Ii, Sakai and Hotta clans, and since the historical Ii Naosuke played a great role in the arrest of Yoshida Shouin, I suppose a parody of him would be a good choice of character. The name Masayasu, on the other hand, was a mix between Hotta Masatoshi, a tairo (great elder, chosen from the roju) and Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, a former tairo. Well, thank Wikipedia for all the facts..^^
> 
> Seiitai Shogun – The full title of the shogun. “Shogun” was just an abbreviation of this term.
> 
> Rounin – Masterless samurai. Though of course, the Shinsengumi serve the bakufu, so technically, they aren’t rounin. But they were before the Shinsengumi was formed, though. 
> 
> Fukuchou – Vice-Commander
> 
> Kyokuchou – Commander
> 
> Shishou – Master
> 
> Yamato Nadeshiko – is a Japanese term meaning "personification of an idealized Japanese woman," "ideal" in the historical context of the patriarchal, traditional culture of Japan.


	6. Always beware of girls conspiring with each other; nothing good will ever come out of it.”

“Kagura-chan, have you found anything yet?”

Hearing those words, the Yato girl looked up at the person in front of her, her vermillion locks of hair still tied into two small buns. She then tilted her head sideways, indicating her anxiety, and sighed.

“Nothing… nothing at all…”

Shinpachi then looked at Kagura, and gave her a halfhearted smile. He expected it; never did Gintoki reveal anything about himself, not that they even asked about it, anyway. He sat down the floor, and picked up the things—Gintoki’s things—which they had rummaged a while ago.

“In the end, Gin-san tried to hide something from us again.. Seriously, I thought he had learned his lesson back when Kabuki-chou was in chaos, when Otose-san was hospitalized… and yet, now, he came back to his old habits and carried the entire burden by himself again…”

Kagura looked back at Shinpachi, her expression a mix between anger and sadness.

“That idiot never learns, huh? Gin-chan… he’s really…”

She placed Gintoki’s belongings back on his cabinet, and stood up.

“…Really…”

Her feet found itself moving towards the shoji, all wanting to get out of the room.

“…R-really…”

Shinpachi reached his hand out for the younger Yorozuya member, but stopped halfway.

“Kagura-chan…”

Kagura, whose back was now facing Shinpachi, looked back at him with such fierce eyes that even the bespectacled boy flinched in surprise.

“GIN-CHAN, THAT IDIOT! Doesn’t he even realize what we would feel if he kept on treating us that way? We just want to help him, dammit! Ooooh, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him!”

“Kagura-chan, get a hold of yourself!” hushed Shinpachi as he immediately took hold of her arms that kept on swaying back and forth like a madman. “Nothing good will happen if you kept on acting that way, you know! We should just think about our next course of action!”

“HUH? What next course of action? Aren’t you the one who said to act normally last night? You said that Gin-chan would tell us everything eventually and that we should trust him and support him with all that we have by the time he does that, but look! Not only did we waste our time last night, we didn’t even ask him about it today!”

“I know about that! I know that by the looks of it, unless we make a direct confrontation, Gin-san would never tell us about it. But… do you really think that asking him would be the best course of action? He would probably lie to us, I’m sure of that!”

“Well then megane, what do you think we should do? Still act normally and wait for him to tell us everything? I know fully well that it won’t happen! You know, unless we follow him around like stalkers, we won’t even know where he is!”

Shinpachi was surprised at the younger girl’s sudden remark. He knew that waiting for Gintoki to tell them the truth was just wishful thinking, but even so, if they do stalk him secretly, then they might be able to know the cause of his troubles.

Last night, upon finding the mysterious photo on Gintoki’s things, they’ve decided to act normally and wait for him to tell them about his worries. However, he still didn’t budge, and continued to act like nothing happened. Now, it was nine o’clock in the morning, and Gintoki was nowhere to be found. They barged into his room and rummaged through his things, but to no avail. So if they do a stakeout on him…would that really solve the problem?

It is better that way, because he felt that if they ask him about it directly, then he might just lie at them, or worse, be angry at them. He won’t make this plan fail again!

“Kagura-chan.”

Shinpachi then looked at her with straight, unwavering eyes.

“We should—”

“You should just follow him around then.”

That sudden remark caught Kagura and Shinpachi’s attention, and they immediately cocked their heads towards the speaker.

In front of them, with her back leaning on the shoji, was Tsukuyo, the Shinigami Tayuu from Yoshiwara. Holding her kiseru in one hand, she brought it back to her lips and puffed out some smoke, its traces permeating in the air.

Shinpachi, whose statement was cut off by the sudden remark of the older woman, took a step closer towards her.

“But… how are we going to do that? First of all, we do not even know where Gin-san is…”

Much to his surprise, Shinpachi found himself under the spell of the Shinigami Courtesan’s amethyst eyes that he was unable to protest any longer. He only saw her throw a kunai towards the ceiling, and as expected, something fell down the floor.

That fell with a loud thud, and the three of them can only look at it in response.

It was no other than a bespectacled young woman with long, flowing purple locks of hair. She adjusted her glasses as if it just fell out of place a while ago, and gave a piercing glare towards the blonde kunoichi in front of her.

Shinpachi was the first one to get into his senses. He then gave an awkward smile. “S-Sacchan-san…”

“WHAT’S THE BIG PROBLEM, TSUKKY? Why did you do that? I’m still waiting for Gin-san, don’t disturb me!”

“Nothing will happen if you kept on staying there, you know. And I’m sure you’ve heard of it, but Gintoki’s been acting weird for some time now..”

“Of course I know that! Even I do not know where he is right now! If I did, I won’t be staying here, waiting for nothing!”

“..Oh. So you still have a brain, huh?”

“WHAT?”

“Nothing. I’m just saying that since you’re a stalker and everything, then why don’t we put your stalking skills into good use?”

“Are you telling me to keep on stalking Gin-san? Isn’t that what I’m doing? Or are you planning on stalking Gin-san? I won’t allow that, Tsukky!”

“WHO’S GONNA STALK THAT BASTARD? I only said this because I wanted to know where he is, you idiot!”

“I don’t want to! I’m the only one allowed to stalk Gin-san, Tsukky! Well then, tell me where Gin-san is so I can proceed with my business!”

Shinpachi called her attention. “Sacchan-san…”

Sarutobi Ayame, or Sacchan as what she was commonly called, looked first at Tsukuyo, and then, at both Shinpachi and Kagura. Even though her eyesight was bad and her glasses were now quite foggy, she can still see the hidden anguish present in the very eyes of the two teenage Yorozuya.

Seeing that she had no other choices left, she then heaved a deep sigh.

“Guess it can’t be helped… But remember this—I’m only helping you just to find Gin-san, nothing more, nothing less!”

XOXOXOX

“Well then, how are we going to find Gin-san? We know very well that he’s been disappearing quite a lot lately, and even with a stalker here of this caliber, I still wasn’t able to track him down at all. I agreed on your plan to find him, but how are we gonna start on to this?”

All eyes were now focused on the bespectacled young woman as they started on talking about their plan of tailing Gintoki, and on finding out the truth behind his recent odd behavior. The four of them were at the Yorozuya Gin-chan, all sitting on a sofa, with Kagura and Shinpachi in front of the two adults.

“But you’ve stalked Gin-san for a long time now,” replied Shinpachi, “haven’t you got any idea on where he is or what he usually does during these times, Sacchan-san?”

“If I had the slightest idea, then I wouldn’t even waste my time on cooperating with you.”

Kagura gave a bored look at Sacchan. “That makes you useless then.”

T-the nerve of these brats! Such ungrateful scoundrels!

“Tsukky! Look at them, they’re bullying me!” she wailed at Tsukuyo, who now took a smoke off her kiseru. She then stared back at the purple-haired Oniwabanshuu, and gave her a cold look.

“You’re really useless,” she then snapped back, much to Sacchan’s dismay.

“WHAT? Is this how you guys gonna repay me? I’m helping you find Gin-san and then you’re all gonna bully me? What am I, a kid?”

Tsukuyo sighed. “You are a kid.”

“Could you say that again, Tsukky? So what if I’m a kid? I’m a kid at heart! And Gin-san is a kid at heart too so that only means that we’re compatible!”

“I never said anything about you and Gintoki being compatible. All we’ve asked you was to help us find his whereabouts, so just hurry up and do it!”

“Alright, alright! Well then, where should we look first?”

Silence filled the area. Sacchan felt the awkward atmosphere rise around her, which made her gulp in response. What’s with this gloomy feeling, and why has it gotten into this?

She felt awkward with the tick of every second. “Uh..what’s wrong? Why are you all silent?”

“It’s all useless,” replied Kagura, looking as gloomy as ever.

Sacchan wondered why her simple question turned out to be something really outrageous. Had the situation really escalated into something so serious that it wasn’t even a simple case of ‘Gin-san doing things in secret’ kind of thing now?

“Errr… well, for starters, why don’t we start with the Snack Otose first? Otose-san might be able to know what Gin-san’s up to.”

The three women looked at Shinpachi as he gave his suggestion, and stared at him in awe.

“What the-? Shinpachi, if you’ve got nice ideas then why haven’t you said it earlier? You’ve been wasting our time, you bastaaaaaard!”

“That’s not it, Kagura-chan! The idea just popped into my head right now! I seriously don’t even know what I should do earlier!”

“I agree with Kagura. We should have done this a long time ago.”

“Not you too, Tsukuyo-san!”

“Shinpachi-kun, it seems that you can outsmart me even though we have the same character traits. I commend you for that.”

“OIIII! What same character traits? As far as I’ve known our characteristics have never overlapped at all! The only similarity between the two of us is our glasses!”

“But Shinpachi, Sacchan’s glasses is a sign of moe-ness, while you, on the other hand… it is your whole existence. The glasses are Shinpachi itself.”

“ENOUGH WITH THIS GLASSES JOKE! What’s gotten up with you guys? Aren’t we supposed to be finding Gin-san? Stop tormenting me!”

**XOXOXOX**

“Huh? Tell you where Gintoki was? What’s gotten up into you guys? Wasn’t Gintoki there a while ago?”

Shinpachi gave an awkward smile to their fierce albeit goodhearted landlady, Terada “Otose” Ayano. Ever since he gave his suggestion a while ago, the four of them went down immediately to see Otose, but to no avail. It seems that she didn’t know anything about Gintoki’s whereabouts either.

“But Otose-san,” Shinpachi countered, “Gin-san was indeed acting like he had always been doing, but he seems to be doing something else than that.. Ugh.. How can I explain this? Kagura-chan?”

“Maybe that idiot Sakata was seeing another woman,” an ugly catwoman then interjected, much to Kagura’s disgust. “He might have realized that he’s too old now to be a pure-blooded cherry boy!”

“Oi, you ugly cat-ears! Why did you take away my line, huh? That question was meant for me!”

“Shut up, you gluttonous ugly kid! This is my first screentime ever in this fanfic and I’m not going to let this go into waste!”

“Die, you bastaaaaard!”

Tsukuyo, seeing the commotion in front of her, sighed in exasperation. They came here to ask about Gintoki, so why are they fighting over such petty things? In her opinion, it is best if they continue on their investigation. Thus, she went over to Otose and sat at the counter in front of her.

“Good morning, Otose-san.”

Otose smiled, slightly surprised at the Shinigami Tayuu’s presence. “Oh. It’s been awhile, Tsukuyo.”

Tsukuyo smiled in return. Ever since she came to stay at the Yorozuya Gin-chan, she had found the older woman’s presence to be a refreshing contrast to the Yorozuya’s usual laidback attitude. Sure, she may had met her several times in the past, the most notable being that incident where they acted as Gintoki’s “harem”, but she considered her as someone whom she held a high degree of respect for, akin to Hinowa’s status to the other women of Yoshiwara.

“So you’re looking for Gintoki, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Then if that’s so, why haven’t you asked him about it earlier?”

“The answers that I got from him are all lies.”

As Otose and Tsukuyo spoke with each other, Sacchan noticed them and was furious.

“Tsukky! What do you mean by that? Does it mean that you and Otose-san have been talking behind my back now? Otose-san, if you’re gonna look for a fiancée for Gin-san, I’m here! Then you dare choose this girl as his wife?”

“Oi, oi, I haven’t said anything about finding a fiancée for Gintoki,” replied Otose, as she reached out for her pack of cigarettes, and lit it up with a lighter. “He can go and get laid for all I care, all that matters to me is that I get the pay for the rent regularly.”

Tsukuyo, irritated at Sacchan’s sudden interruption, glared at her. “You’re such a nuisance! Don’t interrupt me when I’m doing something important, you moron!”

“You’re scheming something again, aren’t you, Tsukky? I won’t let you have Gin-san! Gin-san would always be my husband!”

“Then come and get him when we actually find him!”

Puffing out some smoke out of her lips, her lit cigarette still in her fingers, Otose then looked at the robot maid beside her—it was Tama, the robot maid which the Yorozuya had saved not too long ago from the “Fuyou Incident”.

“Tama, tell them the details so they can get the hell out of my shop.”

The robot maid, with her green hair in braids and her red eyes looking closely at the two women, walked closer to them and bowed.

“As you wish, Otose-sama. Tsukuyo-sama, Ayame-sama, Shinpachi-sama, Kagura-sama… I would like to inform you of the matters regarding the recent happenings on Gintoki-sama.”

Hearing Tama’s sudden declaration, everyone stopped on their tracks and looked at her, all anxious on what she was about to say.

“All of you have found Gintoki-sama’s recent behaviors to be somewhat weird, correct? Based on my data, it is indeed affirmative since Gintoki-sama mostly spends sixteen hours outside every single day as of late. Though it is unknown where he may have gone off to, it is somewhat feasible if I conclude that he’s been doing something that he does not want any of us to know.”

“So what about it then? How’s Gin-chan? Where is he now?”

“Unfortunately, I do not have any answers for that question yet. I have insufficient information stored in my data to accurately guess what’s happening, but still, no matter what it is, this fact is certain—he has a reason to do this.”

Seeing that the three women in the shop did not have any idea where the diabetic Yorozuya no Danna is, they then bid their goodbyes and went out of the shop, all disappointed at their failure. However, as Tsukuyo opened the shoji, what greeted her were two young women—one of them was a brown-haired woman wearing a pink kimono, and her companion was an eyepatch-wearing young woman with a monkey on her shoulder.

“Ara. Tsukuyo-san, it’s been a while.”

Shinpachi, hearing the familiar voice, moved closer towards the shoji.

“A—Ane-ue…”

“Ara, Shin-chan! Oh my, what’s the occasion here? Why are all of you here in Otose-san’s place?”

“Eh? Well, that’s… that is…”

Sensing Shinpachi’s discomfort at the sudden question, Yagyuu Kyuubei then placed her hand on her childhood friend’s shoulder, as if to tell her of her brother’s wishes.

“Tae-chan…”

Shimura Tae, seeing her brother’s hesitation to tell her the truth, gave him a smile that she normally uses in order to make people submit to her wishes.

“What is it, Shin-chan?” she asked again, and inched closer to the poor boy.

“Ah.. well.. ane-ue, we’re just…”

“—We’re just finding Gin-chan, anego,” chirped in Kagura, who then went closer towards her. “I, Shinpachi, Tsukky and Sacchan are looking for Gin-chan.”

“..Eh? For Gin-san? Why? Wasn’t he just here a while ago?”

“He is,” replied Tsukuyo, who now went outside the shop. “But he is doing something we do not even know—that’s why we’re going to find him and discover what he’s been doing by ourselves.”

“Oh, I see then,” Otae then said, and looked at the girl behind her. “Kyuu-chan? What do you think about this?”

“I think it’s pretty interesting, Tae-chan.”

Otae smiled in return. “Isn’t it? Ne, Tsukuyo-san, you don’t mind us joining your search, right?”

Tsukuyo then looked back at Otae and was about to give a nod in agreement when suddenly, Sacchan appeared in front of her and gave her an evil glare.

“YOU! You dare on making moves on my Gin-san again! Gin-san’s mine— I’m first, Otae!”

“Gin-san? You can go and get Gin-san if you want… I’m just here ‘coz it seemed interesting.”

As the two women continued on arguing, Tsukuyo could not help but feel irritated. Aren’t they supposed to be looking for Gintoki?

Since she knew that it cannot be helped, she then heaved a deep sigh.

**XOXOXOX**

As soon as they left Snack Otose, they then commenced their plan on finding Gintoki. However, Tsukuyo, Sacchan, Otae and Kyuubei then decided that they’ll be the ones to look for him throughout Kabuki-chou, while Kagura and Shinpachi, on the other hand, would be the ones to stay at the Yorozuya Gin-chan and wait for him.

And so, the four adults walked along the streets of Kabuki-chou.

They walked under the scorching heat of the sun, but they did not take any heed of it—they still have a mission to complete. They then went to all the other possible places that Gintoki may have gone off to—such as pachinko parlors, public markets, casinos, stalls and other shops, and even the public park… and there they found one of Gintoki’s best buddies, the MADAO, Hasegawa Taizou, sitting on his makeshift cardboard bed together with the Musashi-like person—a short, old man with white hair, who also wore diapers, a worn-out jacket, bottlecap glasses, and an orange cap.

The four girls then asked the MADAO where Gintoki is.

“Eh? Gin-san? I don’t know, I haven’t seen him yet,” the marude dame na ossan then replied, and looked at his companion. “We haven’t seen him around, right, Musashi-san?”

Musashi, hearing Hasegawa’s question, nodded in agreement.

Seeing that even they do not know where he is, the “harem” thanked them and walked off. They then went to other places in town, and they even managed to meet a certain blacksmith—Murata Tetsuko, who was helped by the Yorozuya during the incident with the accursed sword, Benizakura.

“I haven’t seen Gin-san for quite some time now… I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any use to you…”

They even asked Tatsumi the firefighter, but even she hadn’t seen him…

“Nope, I haven’t seen Gin-san ever since the incident here in Kabuki-chou… By the way, say hi to him for me.”

Due to desperation, they even went to the Okama Bar, since there is also a possibility that Gintoki might have been captured by Mademoiselle Saigou, and was forced once again to become “Paako.”

“Paako? Why yes, I saw Paako a few days ago… but I haven’t seen him today,” Saigou Tokumori replied, and looked at the other okamas behind him. “Have you girls seen Paako?”

“No, we haven’t seen Paako yet, Mama~”

And with that reply, the four girls went straight to the other heaven for the masses, the famous host club, Takamagahara. They then asked Kyoshiro and Hachiro about Gintoki’s whereabouts, but to no avail.

“About Yorozuya-san? We haven’t seen him for a while, isn’t that right, Hachiro?” said Kyoshiro, as he looked at the afro-wearing transsexual beside him. Hachiro then nodded in agreement. “So that’s it. But since you ladies still haven’t found Yorozuya-san yet… would you like to rest your wings in this beautiful place upon the heavens, Takamagahara?”

Declining Kyoshiro’s offer, the four girls then went to the cabaret where Otae works, Snack Smile, much to her dismay. Otae asked her fellow workers about Gintoki’s whereabouts, but even they haven’t seen him.

“Nope, we haven’t seen him, Otae,” replied Oryou, one of her friends and co-workers at the cabaret, and the object of the affections of Sakamoto Tatsuma, one of Gintoki’s comrades during the Joui war. And with that reply, the four women then went out of the cabaret.

They continued on walking, until they stopped on their tracks.

“Let’s call it a day. It’s getting late, and I bet Gintoki would come home soon, anyway,” said Tsukuyo, who now gave a puff of smoke out of her lips. “Let’s just go back to the Yorozuya.”

The three other women stared at her in return, and sighed.

“Don’t you think…Gin-san might’ve been seeing another woman, that’s why he kept on disappearing like that?” said Otae, much to Sacchan’s dismay.

Even though no other reply came to that statement, the four women walked back to the Yorozuya Gin-chan with melancholic faces, still thinking about Otae’s declaration, and of Kagura and Shinpachi’s reactions once they found out about their failure.

**XOXOXOX**

It was a nice, cloudy afternoon in the Shinsengumi barracks.

And as such, it was a perfect time for smoking. The irritating rain won’t make his cigarette taste like humid mold, and he would certainly enjoy puffing out some smoke to the fullest as long as he doesn’t get interrupted… and since everything seemed to be peaceful, Hijikata brought his hands towards his pocket, and immediately grabbed his pack of cigarettes and his mayonnaise lighter.

With a piece of cigarette now on his mouth, he then opened his mayo lighter and tried to light his cigarette, but stopped halfway.

Hijikata gritted his teeth.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he threw his mayo lighter far away and all of a sudden, there came a small explosion—it was from the lighter. He then faced his back, and scowled.

“SOUGO! DAMN YOU! I swear I’ll really kill you! How dare you place a bomb on my lighter! How dare you ruin such a perfect time for smoking? You bastaaaaaard!”

With the real culprit’s identity being exposed out in the open, Okita then appeared out of his hiding, and gave a disappointed look. “Tch. Just a little bit more and I could have been the new fukuchou. Seriously, Hijikata-san…won’t you do me a favor? Just die already.”

“The hell’s wrong with you? That’s no way to ask a favor, you retard! And the hell’s with that friggin’ request? You just wanted to kill me in the end!”

“That has always been my aim, Hijikata-san,” replied Okita, giving him a mischievous grin. “I’ve always kept my eye on your position, and I always make sure that you get killed. That’s my pride and joy.”

“Pride and joy my ass! You damn sadist! I swear, one of these day I’m gonna—”

“—Hijikata-san.”

Surprised at Sougo’s sudden change of tone, Hijikata stared at him in confusion.

“What?”

Okita Sougo seemed serious—that was what Hijikata thought upon seeing the young lad’s sudden change in behavior. He knew him well enough that whenever he makes that kind of tone, it meant work.

“That roju… that Ii Masayasu—why is he rummaging through our records? Only a few could have access to that information, and even though he is a higher-up, he shouldn’t have access to those data.”

Hijikata was surprised at Okita’s sudden remark. So there are even times where he takes his work seriously, huh?

“Kondou-san gave him his permission,” the Shinsengumi fukuchou then replied, “I think the roju said that he needed to review some of the information that they have in the Bakufu… he and Kondou-san seemed to be on good terms.”

“But still, that doesn’t mean that he should have access to those records! It was supposed to be private!”

Hijikata turned his back on Okita, and walked away. “You know fully well the extent of their power, Sougo. Even though he is only an official, we don’t have the power to stop him. When shit comes to shove, he can easily disband us in a blink of an eye.”

Okita fell silent, knowing fully well the truth behind Hijikata’s words.

“But even so, that doesn’t mean that I don’t suspect him though,” Hijikata then mumbled to himself, and grabbed his phone.

“Yamazaki… that roju, Ii Masayasu… take a close look at him. You can do a stakeout on him for all I care, but there’s one thing that you should not fail to do—you should not lose sight of him.”

**XOXOXOX**

A serious atmosphere filled the area as Tsukuyo, Sacchan, Otae, Kyuubei, Shinpachi and Kagura sat on the sofas in the room, and talked about the result of their earlier plans.

“Shin-chan, Kagura-chan… we’re sorry but… unfortunately, we haven’t found Gin-san at all..”

Shinpachi stared back at his sister in response, and gave a deep sigh.

He knew that it would result into this… but still, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. They still haven’t got the slightest idea on the sudden change on Gintoki’s behavior, and he was worried since he knew that as time passes, the gap between the three of them would get wider and wider…

He and Kagura-chan wanted to help him.. but if he continues on acting like that, how could they help him?

Seeing her brother’s depressed figure, Otae looked down on the floor, and gave a weary smile. “I’m sorry if all our efforts were useless, Shin-chan, Kagura-chan… I promise, we would definitely find out the truth tomorrow!”

“Yeah,” chirped in Kyuubei, “Tae-chan’s right! We might be able to do it tomorrow!”

“Gin-san would definitely tell us the truth! He won’t lie to his lovely fiancée!”

Tsukuyo smiled to herself upon seeing the actions of the other women. It was definitely a good idea that she asked for their help.

“Well then, that makes it settled. We would continue on our stakeout tomorrow.”

“…There’s no need for that.”

Hearing that statement, all the people present looked at Shinpachi, his hands tightly clenched into fists.

Kagura, who sat beside him, looked at him in confusion. “S-Shinpachi..?”

“I think there’s no need for that any longer, everyone… I know Gin-san… he spent so many days on making us ignorant about the truth… and despite being so lazy, I know that he performs his job well. It would only turn out to be like today—all our efforts would be useless.”

“But Shinpachi, what should we do then? Gin-chan never tells us anything about it! What should we do, confront him?”

“Yeah. We should have done that a long time ago.”

“What? But didn’t you say that a direct confrontation would even be more useless? Why are you contradicting your own statements now?”

“It may be contradicting, but I think there’s no more way to do it now. If we don’t ask him directly, nothing would happen.”

Sensing Shinpachi’s seriousness on his words, Kagura fell silent. She knew that he was right, but even so… would it be successful?

“I see.. then I agree with you, Shinpachi. We’ll ask him directly tonight.”

“Yeah.”

Tsukuyo, on the other hand, stared at the two Yorozuya. She knew that they wanted to help Gintoki, but even so, she was surprised on the extent on what they could do just for him.. They could have just respected Gintoki’s decision to hide everything from them. Why are they doing this?

“We’re doing this... because Gin-chan is important to us.”

Hearing Kagura’s words made Tsukuyo perk up in surprise. Had she said her thoughts out loud?

“…We are the Yorozuya. If we can’t even help Gin-san, how could we possibly help other people?”

Shinpachi then looked at the three women on the sofa, and smiled at them. “Thanks for everything you’ve done, Ane-ue, Kyuubei-san, Sacchan-san… But we’ll be the ones to take in-charge from here onwards. See you tomorrow.”

As they bid their goodbyes to one another, the three women then went out of the Yorozuya Gin-chan and went home, leaving Tsukuyo, Shinpachi and Kagura upstairs. Realizing that he hadn’t cooked their dinner yet, Shinpachi immediately rushed to the kitchen, while Kagura slept on top of Sadaharu. Tsukuyo, on the other hand, gave a quick glance at the two teenagers, and sighed.

Gintoki… you are one lucky man.

She then went downstairs to have a walk when suddenly, she was surprised to see Otae, Kyuubei and Sacchan at an alley near the Yorozuya.

She went closer towards the three. “What are you doing?” she then asked, her kiseru still on her lips.

“We’re concocting a plan—a punishment for Gin-san,” replied Otae, as she gave her devilish grin. “How dare he make Shin-chan so depressed… I’ll make sure he’ll pay for this!”

**XOXOXOX**

“Aaaaaah… I’m hungry, I’m so hungry…”

Gintoki gave a huge yawn as he trudged his way down home. He was dead tired, and he had so many things to think about. That incident with the Sonjouroushi guy is one thing, and now, he had a gut feeling that Shinpachi and Kagura noticed his actions… He just hoped that isn’t true, though…He had too many problems to solve.

He left Kabuki-chou early that morning to go to the Sonjouroushi quarters with Zura. However, they still haven’t got any clue on who that person was, despite his childhood friend’s excellent information network.

What worried him most wasn’t that, though. One of Katsura’s minions, the one who investigated about the Sonjouroushi, was found dead on a dark passageway near the terminal. Sure, he felt guilty since he was the one who asked Katsura to investigate about that faction, but what matters most is this: Kagura and Shinpachi might be in grave danger once they get their noses on this business. And even though he knew that they can fend off for themselves, that they are strong enough to stand on their own feet and fight beside him, he still cannot help himself. He wanted to keep them safe. He wanted to keep them away from harm.

If lying to them forever would be the best way in order to protect them, then so be it. He would rather die from guilt than see them suffer because of him.

And so Gintoki stretched his hands wide in the air, and scratched his scalp lightly. Once he was only a few blocks away from the Yorozuya Gin-chan though, what greeted him was an attack from a naginata that flew straight towards his face. Surprised at this, he quickly dodged and ran to the other side.

“What the hell is this? What’s with that flying naginata? Is that thing… possibly aiming at me?”

As if hearing his question, another naginata flew straight at him, and this time, Gintoki used his Touya-ko to deflect it.

“SO IT’S REALLY AIMING AT ME! DAMMIT!”

He ran fast down the street so he can go home and get away from those flying spears, but all of a sudden, something hit him in the head. Gulping, he then touched his hand on his head, curious on what it was.

He was pissed. It was poop. A monkey’s poop, to be exact. And he knew exactly whose poop it was…

“DON’T MESS WITH ME! Come out now, dammit!”

But as soon as he screamed, a pair of eyeglasses fell on his hands. He brought it closer to his face so as to give it a closer inspection, but all of a sudden, a laser beam went out of the glasses, and much to his ire, it grazed his favorite yukata.

“Dammit, this is my favorite! OH, SHIT!”

He ran away as fast as he could when suddenly, he was attacked by a barrage of kunais from nowhere. However, he could not dodge everything since there are still some kunai left, all stuck on the different parts of his body.

“OKAY, OKAY, I GIVE UP! I FORFEIT! JUST STOP THIS!”

Hearing Gintoki’s cries made the three women reveal themselves in front of him. Gintoki, upon seeing them, was shocked.

“Otae.. Kyuubei… Sacchan… why.. why are you..?”

Gintoki was about to rant some more when all of a sudden, Sacchan gave a huge glomp to the silver-haired samurai.

“Oh, Gin-san, I’m so sorry! I did not mean to do that! But Otae here told me that once I did that then you would attack me, so… please, Gin-san! I want you to hurt me more~!”

“Stop being so damn masochistic, you bitch! I just wanna go home in peace! And I thought you threw away those glasses? Those things could be dangerous, you know!”

“Gin-san—”

“What? I haven’t got any—oh, Otae. So you’re the culprit for that flying naginata, huh? And since there was some monkey poop there, it could only be that stupid monkey’s..”

“He is indeed the culprit,” Kyuubei then replied, “Jugem-Jugem Shit-Tossing The Life Of Shin-chan's Two-Day-Old Underwear Balmunk Fezalion Isaac Schneider 1/3True Love 2/3 Hangnail Anxiety Betrayal Knows My Name Or Does It Really Ignore Calls Squid Dogfish Halibut Trout-Cod Dogfish This Is a Different Dogfish,I'm Talking About The Dogfish Shark Kaluga Angler Ray Yuuteimiyaoukimukou Pepepepepepepepepepepepe All's Well That Ends Well Bichigusomaru was the one who did it. Right, Jugem-Jugem Shit-Tossing The Life Of Shin-chan's Two-Day-Old Underwear Balmunk Fezalion Isaac Schneider…”

“STOP IT! YOU’RE INCREASING THE WORD COUNT! STOP THAT!”

“…1/3True Love 2/3 Hangnail Anxiety Betrayal Knows My Name Or Does It Really Ignore Calls Squid Dogfish Halibut Trout-Cod Dogfish This Is a Different Dogfish,I'm Talking About The Dogfish Shark Kaluga Angler Ray Yuuteimiyaoukimukou Pepepepepepepepepepepepe All's Well That Ends Well Bichigusomaru?”

“STOP THAT LONG NAME JOKE ALREADY!”

Much to his surprise, Gintoki noticed that Otae went closer to him and stared, her eyes boring its way into his.

“Gin-san… you better tell me what you’ve done to make Shin-chan and Kagura-chan so damned worried about you.”

Gintoki was surprised at Otae’s sudden declaration. He then stood up and dusted some dirt off his clothes, looked back at her, and gave her a halfhearted smile.

“W-What are you talking about? Shinpachi and Kagura’s been acting normal. Even I had been acting normal. There’s nothing wrong at all.”

“Is that really true? If there’s nothing wrong, then why are you acting like that? It’s not like you, Gin-san.”

Gintoki stared back at the three of them in awe. It seems that they really knew him after all. Was he that easy to read?

But still, he won’t give up. He decided to keep everything to himself, and he would stick with it.

“There’s nothing wrong with me, and there’s nothing wrong with Shinpachi and Kagura either. But that’s enough, I’m going home.”

And with that, Gintoki walked away from the three women, leaving them on their own devices.

**XOXOXOX**

When Gintoki arrived back home, he went straight to the bathroom. He was now really dirty from all the pranks that Otae, Kyuubei and Sacchan did, and he was dead tired. But since he supposed that a nice, evening bath would help him relax a bit, he sat on a stool and washed his body, thoroughly cleansing himself, especially his perm, which was dirtied by that damned monkey of the Yagyuu clan.

Soap suds trailing down his skin, he continued on shampooing his hair for the second time, since he felt really icky by Bichigusomaru’s excrement on his hair.

Even though he was supposed to be relaxing on the bath, all that he could think of were Otae’s words to him earlier… She said that Shinpachi and Kagura were worried about something that he did—was it really true? His gut feeling that the two teenage Yorozuya might’ve been aware of his actions scared him a bit, but he shrugged the thought off.

He won’t believe it unless he sees it with his own, two eyes.

“Aah, that damn monkey… my poor perm…”

Finally satisfied, he then went out of the bathroom. Once he closed the door and turned around, however, he met face-to-face with the blonde Shinigami Courtesan, the tayuu Tsukuyo.

Tsukuyo was surprised to find Gintoki in front of her. She was about to go back to her room, but she had to pass by the bathroom since she had to clean it, and she did not expect to see Gintoki just coming out from the bath. She didn’t even notice when he arrived inside the house. When did he arrive?

“T-Tsukuyo…”

With his voice serving as a trigger in order to bring her back to reality, Tsukuyo then took a good look at the man in front of her.

Gintoki was half-naked, with only a towel serving as a covering for the nether regions of his body. Droplets of water fell from his from his silver hair, even though he kept on drying it with the towel on his shoulder. Droplets of water also trailed down the skin of his chest, of his abs, of his wide shoulders… and he inched closer to her and looked at her, and she realized that she wasn’t even thinking straight anymore…

“Hm? What’s wrong with you? You’re getting red, you know. Are you sick?”

And Tsukuyo felt herself flush from what she had just seen. It wasn’t the first time she ever saw a man’s body, but it was certainly the first she ever felt weird from seeing something like this.

“D-Dinner’s ready… I.. well.. I have to go.”

She hurriedly went away, all embarrassed at the sight of him.

“Oi, Tsukuyo!” he then shouted, but to no avail. Tsukuyo was already out of his line of sight.

“What’s her problem?” Gintoki mumbled to himself, and went straight to his room in order to get some change of clothes.

Never did he notice that a kunai was already stuck on the back of his head.

**XOXOXOX**

Gintoki, now fully dressed on his signature clothing, slumped over the sofa and grabbed his last week’s issue of Jump. He had been quite careless lately, and he noticed that he doesn’t even buy the aforementioned magazine on Wednesdays now. Weekly Shounen Jump is his life; if he ceases on buying it, what would happen to him? He won’t even be able to read One Park or Gintaman at all! He doesn’t want that!

He smiled to himself. Somehow, he really relaxed for a bit now, since he was even able to think about his beloved Jump. He had been quite stressed lately, after all. He wasn’t used to that.

He tossed and turned on the sofa as he flipped over the pages of the manga magazine. He had already read that issue of Jump on his hands, and he was lazy to reread it. And so, he sneaked a peek at the teenage Yato girl on the couch in front of him, who seemed to be fidgeting about something.

Kagura had been acting strange ever since they ate their dinner a while ago. And it’s not only Kagura, Shinpachi had also been acting too weird. They appeared to be mumbling something over themselves while he was out of their sight, and they kept on looking at him with troubled faces, as if they’re trying to tell him something.

Tsukuyo, on the other hand, looked at the two teenagers with a concerned look. By the looks of it, she seemed to be aware of what’s going on between the two Yorozuya. Gintoki tried to observe her actions to see if there’s something amiss, but to no avail—he couldn’t figure her out at all.

Judging from their actions, he concluded that they’ve wanted to ask or tell him something important. And whatever it could be, Gintoki could only hope that it wasn’t what he was thinking about.

Gin-san… you better tell me what you’ve done to make Shin-chan and Kagura-chan so damned worried about you.

Otae’s words earlier seemed to ring upon his ears the whole time. He knew that sooner or later, they would eventually find out about the truth, but now is not the right time. If possible, he wanted to confess everything to them sooner, as long as he can be sure that they would be safe.

But… it did not seem to be the case now.

With the way things are going, he knew that things aren’t looking good. Tsukuyo had already confronted him a long time ago, and Otae, Kyuubei and Sacchan joined the fray too… Now, does it mean that the next ones would be Shinpachi and Kagura?

It was already quarter to nine o’clock in the evening and Shinpachi still hasn’t gone home. Usually, he goes back home at eight, and him staying later than usual only meant one thing: there is something important going on.

Gintoki tried to dispel all the negative thoughts that kept on forming on his head. It won’t do him good to fret about it, and the fastest way to know what Shinpachi and Kagura are up to was by direct confrontation.

“Oi, oi, Pattsuan… It’s already late, why are you still here? Your sister’s waiting for you, you know.”

As soon as he said those words, he looked over to the bespectacled boy who kept on sweeping the floor and to the China girl who was now staring at him. Seeing their confused yet determined faces made him feel a sudden pang on his heart, but even so, he wasn’t deterred.

“Gin-san… uh.. well..”

Gintoki stared back at him, his crimson orbs meeting his azure ones. “Hm? What is it?”

“Gin-chan,” Kagura then suddenly spoke, as if irritated by Shinpachi’s hesitation to talk further. “We would like to ask you something important, so please.. answer us honestly.”

Gintoki felt a sudden lump on his throat at the sudden turn of events. Everything had been going so smoothly these past few days… does this mark the end of it?

“W-What is it, Shinpachi, Kagura…? What do you… want to ask me?”

Shinpachi and Kagura then walked towards him, and stood still in front of him. He could feel that he was being in the careful observation of their eyes, that even the slightest of his actions would be noticed by them.

“Gin-san… please tell us the truth. What is going on?”

Gintoki blinked in surprise. He knew that it would come into this, but still…

“W-What do you mean ‘what’s going on?’ There’s nothing going on.”

Kagura’s eyebrows twitched in response. “Gin-chan, what do you mean there’s nothing going on? There is something going on! Just one look at you and it is too obvious that you’re occupied by something, that you’re troubled by something! Please Gin-chan, tell us!”

“I have nothing to tell you. There’s nothing wrong at all! Stop being such a pest, just do anything worthwhile or something!”

“Gin-san!”

“But, Gin-chan!”

“Shinpachi, Kagura,” said Gintoki with his voice indicating full authority, “Didn’t you guys hear me? I said that there’s nothing wrong at all, so.. just.. stop this, okay? Seriously, is this the reason why you guys have been acting so weird lately? I tell you, it’s just all in your head—”

“We don’t make things up, Gin-chan! It’s true! We’ve known you long enough to know what’s happening, and we certainly are beside you all the time so we know that something is wrong!”

“Something’s wrong? How could you say that? I’ve always been acting like I did, you know.”

“You’ve always been staying late at night. You weren’t even at your usual hangouts! You always seemed to be occupied by something, and you were always outside, Gin-san! That alone—”

“That alone is what? Enough? Come on, believe me, you guys! When Gin-san here says that there’s nothing wrong, then there’s nothing wrong at all. You guys trust Gin-san, right?”

“We do trust you, Gin-san,” mumbled Shinpachi, as he gripped his hakama tighter in his sides. “We do trust you, and we believe that you can overcome any obstacle that comes your way. But even so Gin-san, you’re not alone! We’re here!”

“Shinpachi’s right, Gin-chan. I, Sadaharu, Shinpachi… and even everyone else… we’re willing to help you in any way, Gin-chan. So please, tell us…”

Gintoki couldn’t believe his ears. He was so touched by Shinpachi and Kagura’s desire to help him, but still, he knew that hiding the truth would be the best for them. And thus, he strengthened his already weakening resolve, tore his gaze away from them, and stood up. He then walked away from them, but stopped halfway.

“Please… just stop this nonsense. I’m bored. I’m going out.”

Forgive me, Kagura, Shinpachi…

“Aaah, Shinpachi, Gin-chan’s running away!”

“GIN-SAN!”

Gintoki then stopped on his tracks. He looked back at them with such an unreadable expression, and upon seeing that, Shinpachi just couldn’t control himself.

“Gin-san… didn’t you promise us that you won’t do something like this again? You’re obviously breaking your promise! Gin-san, we knew that there is something troubling you.. We wanted to help you! Why can’t you just tell us the truth?”

Kagura looked at the teenage boy beside her, all surprised at his sudden outburst. “Shinpachi… you..”

“Shinpachi,” Gintoki finally spoke up, looking at him. “There are things that would have been better left unsaid in this world, you know. And that’s a fact. Try to put that on your vocabulary, kiddo.”

Gintoki didn’t want to see any of them hurt. Most of all, he didn’t want to see them hurt because of him. Still, he needed to do this. They can hate him all they want, but as long as they’re alive and well, he can live with it. After all, as long as you’re alive, everything’s possible, right?

He then faced his back at them, and started to walk away.

“Wait, Gin-san…!”

The Yorozuya boss then turned around to face bespectacled cherry boy, only to find something he did not ever expect to see.

It was the same photo that became the cause of all their problems—the photo of his beloved Shouyou-sensei.

“Gin-san… didn’t you say that you won’t tell us everything, right? Well then, does it mean that this picture had a connection to what you’re worrying about now?”

Gintoki fell silent. If ‘shocked’ was the right word for what he had felt right now, then so be it. How in the world did they manage to stumble upon that picture?

“Are our predictions right, Gin-chan? So does that mean that this picture is really somewhat related to your issues?”

He could not find the right words to say… He did not even know how he should react at all. Would he act casually? Would he lie? Or would he tell them the truth? He was confused. What would happen now?

“Gin-chan…”

“Please… tell us the whole truth, Gin-san.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hakama – Hakama is a type of traditional Japanese clothing. 
> 
> Naginata – The naginata is one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese swords in the form of a pole weapon. It is commonly used by Otae in the series.
> 
> One Park – Gintama’s parody of One Piece.
> 
> Gintaman – Gintama’s parody of Gintama.
> 
> Zoffy – Gintama’s parody of Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece.


	7. Sometimes, we need to hurt the people we love in order to protect them.

“Gin-chan…”

“Please… tell us the whole truth, Gin-san.”

Gintoki was at a loss. He did not even know what to do. He had already expected such a reaction from them if they ever learn about him keeping something from them, but still, now that he’s in that exact situation, he does not know what he’s supposed to do.

And to make things worse, both of them had found the mysterious picture of his sensei—the same thing that became the root of all his worries. Seeing this in the hands of both Shinpachi and Kagura rendered him immobile, and he wasn’t able to form any coherent thought.

Sweat trickled down his face. “W-Where the hell did you find that?”

“I found it on your things, Gin-san,” replied Shinpachi, “it was lying around your desk.”

Gintoki could not believe what he just heard. Shinpachi just found it on his desk? How can he be so careless? He already knew that an incident like this would result into trouble, so how can he just leave it around carelessly like that?

It was too much for him to bear. He wanted to bash his head on the wall for being so goddamned stupid.

“So, Gin-san—mind telling us what this is?”

Faced with that question, Gintoki looked at the bespectacled boy in front of him. He tried his best to mask off the anxiousness that slowly crept its way unto him, but all his efforts were in vain as the two teenagers have already noticed his failed attempts.

Still, he won’t give up.

“That’s nothing. It’s just a random picture that I got from Zura some time ago.”

As soon as he had said that, he looked intently at the both of them, watching if they believed his little lie. But just as he expected, the two of them were unaffected.

Kagura walked towards him and grabbed him by the hem of his shirt, giving him a piercing glare. “Stop uttering lies, Gin-chan. We know that you’re lying. I want you to tell us the truth. We need to know about it.”

Kagura’s glare upon him was piercing indeed. However, he knew that despite that fact, there hid a huge concern for him behind those azure orbs of hers, which only caused him to feel the sudden pang on his chest even greater.

Was he really doing the right thing?

“Haven’t I told you about that before? I’m not lying,” he said as he removed Kagura’s hand on his shirt. “That’s just one of Zura’s subordinates. I just got that from Zura when he randomly showed it to me some time ago—that’s the truth. That picture ain’t got anything to do with me.”

Gintoki could only see Shinpachi look at him intently through his glasses.

“Are you really sure about what you’re saying, Gin-san? You know, your face tells us otherwise.”

He gulped nervously. Because he had stayed with them for so long, it’s only natural that they knew him so well.

“Of course I’m sure of that,” the silver-haired samurai assured the two of them, “I don’t have anything to do with that man. That’s why…let’s put an end to this, okay? We’re getting nowhere…”

“We ain’t getting nowhere, Gin-san. I know just by looking at you that this man is someone that you know personally. I mean, if it’s just Katsura-san’s random subordinate, you wouldn’t react like this at all, would you?”

He wanted to scream his lungs out, and run away until he collapsed. The pressure is taking its toll on him. Can’t they realize that he’s just doing this for their own good? Why are they so stubborn?

_..And why of all times would that four-eyes be such a goddamned smartass now?_

However, Shinpachi just kept on taunting him.

“Why aren’t you saying anything, Gin-san? Have I gotten that right?”

Gintoki was unable to say anything. He could not say anything.

“Gin-chan… was it really true? Do you really know this man? If so, then, who is he? And why is such a thing in your possession? Was this picture the reason why you’ve been acting strange recently?”

He can only clench his fists tighter on his sides.

“Gin-san, would you please stop dilly-dallying? We already know what you’re up to, so cut it out! Just tell us the truth, that’s what we’re asking you!”

Gintoki looked down on the floor. He knew that he shouldn’t be, but he was starting to get furious. He just couldn’t help it.

“Kids like you shouldn’t snoop on adults’ private matters. And it’s nothing important anyway, so please, back off. Drop the issue.”

“Like hell we would! We’ve seen just how much this had affected you, Gin-san! We cannot stand seeing you suffering like this!”

“You’ve been doing everything by yourself, Gin-chan. Aren’t we the Yorozuya? Sure, there may have been ups and downs, but we’ve always been together, hand in hand! We’ve always been like this—why change it now?”

“Gin-san!”

“Gin-chan!”

“…SHUT UP! YOU DIDN’T CARE ABOUT MY PAST BEFORE, SO WHY THE HELL ARE YOU POKING YOUR NOSES ONTO IT NOW?”

With that sudden statement, Gintoki found himself surprised with what he had just said. He just screamed angrily at them, didn’t he?

_Did he…just do that?_

Gintoki was confused. He did not know what happened to him and why he suddenly did that, and thus, he was anxious on how they would take it. He then looked back at them, and he could’ve sworn his heart had just stopped beating as soon as he saw their reactions.

He saw that the both of them had a hurt expression on their faces, and he couldn’t stand it. However, there’s also a hint of determination—especially on Shinpachi’s—as if telling him that despite what he did, they won’t ever give up.

Shinpachi stared intently at the silver-haired samurai in front of him, not minding the fact that he was shocked to see him act like that.

“The past, huh? So, you mean that this guy is related to your past, isn’t it? Now that I think of it, you never told us about your past.. He’s someone important to you, isn’t he, Gin-san?”

_Stop it._

“Did something happen to him, Gin-chan? Did something important happen to this man on the 21st of November?”

_Please, stop it._

“Something related to this man must’ve happened, right Gin-san? And the reason why you’ve been so troubled nowadays was because of him, or whatever it is that was connected to him, or whatever it is that—”

“STOP IT!”

Shinpachi and Kagura were both speechless at Gintoki’s sudden remark. Now that it happened for the second time, Gintoki knew that he had already lost the little self-control that he had left. Even though he did not want to hurt them, his actions told him otherwise.

“G-Gin-chan..?”

He hated himself for being so stupid.

“..I’ve had enough! Please leave…leave me alone!”

_No, that’s not true... Stay! Stay right here!_

“You said you wanted to help, right? Well, I don’t need your help—and you shouldn’t dare to help...”

_Shinpachi, Kagura, I just wanted to say—_

“..So, get your asses off here and leave me alone!”

_…I’m sorry._

And that was it. Gintoki knew that there’s no more going back, and that whatever he just said had already done some damage. Blaming himself for being so useless, he gulped in anxiety and looked at the two teenagers in front of him.

Both Shinpachi and Kagura’s expression was a cross between shock, betrayal, and hurt. At least, that was what Gintoki thought upon seeing the look on their faces. They both remained motionless, as if they still haven’t absorbed the fact that he would seriously lash out at them like that.

And lastly, that hint of anger on their expression broke his heart.

“You know what, Gin-san? I think I’ll take you up on your offer,” said Shinpachi as he angrily pulled Kagura towards him, and walked towards the shoji. “You don’t need our help, right? I bet you don’t even need us anymore. Suit yourself, Gin-san, if that’s what you want.”

Kagura struggled under his tight grip on her arms. “S-Shinpachi, you— but Gin-chan’s gonna—”

“Let him be, Kagura-chan. Didn’t you hear what he just said? He doesn’t want us anymore. So we’re gonna leave.”

“B-But Shinpachi—”

“Kagura-chan!”

Kagura then glanced back at Gintoki, who now tore his gaze away from them. Seeing this action, she only felt her hurt worsen, causing her to furrow her eyebrows in response.

“Gin-chan,” she then told him before going out, “Please… understand us. We’ll be waiting.”

And with that last statement, the two of them were gone, leaving the silver-haired samurai alone in the room.

The only thing that he can do now was to sulk in a corner and punch the wall in frustration.

“Dammit… why has it gotten into this?”

He wished that he could have taken back his words. But it’s already too late—what’s done is done, and that is that. He can only heave a deep sigh in response to his selfishness.

However, he could still sense something else.

He chuckled to himself. “Aren’t you going to lecture me as well…”

He then looked behind him, and found a blonde young woman with a kiseru on her lips, staring at him intently.

“…Tsukuyo?”

As soon as Gintoki said her name, Tsukuyo then walked towards him and took a smoke out of her kiseru, its traces permeating in the air.

“No, I don’t plan on doing that. How long have you found out that I’m here?” she asked him, amused.

“Ever since the time when this whole mess had started.”

“I… I see.”

An awkward silence filled the area. Realizing that everything’s been so hard on him for today, he then stood up, and walked away.

“..Gintoki.”

That sudden call coming from the Shinigami courtesan made him stop on his tracks. However, he still faced his back on her.

He didn’t utter a word, and yet, Tsukuyo took that as a signal to continue.

“Shinpachi and Kagura’s desire to help you was genuine, you know. They really wanted to help you, and they’re really worried about you. You should be grateful of that.”

Gintoki remained speechless, not knowing how to answer.

“And besides, they weren’t the only ones who noticed your odd behavior, so you ought to be careful, Gintoki.”

He then smiled to himself. “Of course I know that. Don’t be silly, Tsukuyo.”

The kunoichi only looked back at him in silence.

“Well, I’ll leave this place to you then,” said Gintoki as he slid the shoji open. “I think we won’t be able to have our little chat tonight, since I’m going out for a walk.”

“Gintoki…”

“Well, I’m off.”

As Gintoki slid the shoji shut, Tsukuyo then heaved a deep sigh.

Many things happened today, and her mind was a mess. However, what she did not expect was Gintoki’s reaction to everything—it wasn’t what she expected at all. Sure, she knew that Gintoki would continue on lying to all of them, and he would even feign innocence to boot, but what surprised her was the fact that he had lashed out at the two Yorozuya.

She had never seen Gintoki like that before. And based on the two teenagers’ reactions, it seems that it was the first time that they had ever seen him get that angry as well. Thus, she believed that whatever it is on that picture of his sensei, it was important to him. And besides, he wouldn’t get angry if it wasn’t that, right?

She then walked towards the balcony, and gazed at the night skies once again. Surely, the calming sight of the moon truly brings her peace, even for a little while.

She then felt something brush against her arm. She looked behind her, and found Sadaharu, the huge white dog finding its way beside her. The dog looked at her with those cute puppy eyes of his, and she knew that even if he was a dog, he can understand what she feels.

“Woof!”

Tsukuyo smiled at the huge dog in front of her. Somehow, it seems that Sadaharu was comforting her…and she was thankful for that. Brushing her hand against the dog’s head, she then looked back at the night skies once again.

“I just wish… that everything would be alright now.”

**XOXOXOX**

Okita Sougo was on his way to the Records Room. The last time he went there was during the Rokkaku Incident—which was ages ago, or so he thought. But anyhow, he doesn’t go there usually, since even though he was a police officer, he doesn’t like to take it that seriously.

Or maybe he does. But he’s more serious when it comes to killing Hijikata.

Stifling a yawn on his hand, he opened the shoji and entered the room. Scanning the area with those burgundy orbs of his, he realized that there’s no one inside the room, much to his relief.

Well, he had already expected that anyway.

He then walked deeper towards the very heart of the Records Room, as he scanned the bookshelves for the records of the past Joui War.

The Joui Wars, which lasted for how many years, had resulted into nothing but loss and despair. Even though he was too young when the Joui War was on its peak, he knew that the samurai were fighting a pointless fight. It was obvious that they were no match to the Amantos.

However, even though humans and Amantos co-exist nowadays, he knew that somehow, there is still a rift between them that cannot be erased. Various Jouishishi factions still exist today, and even though they aren’t as hostile as before, he knew that sooner or later, there will come a time that they would rebel against the Bakufu.

And that’s the reason why they, the Shinsengumi, were here.

Even though they were samurai themselves, they chose to live by the Bakufu’s wishes. They were no less than the Bakufu’s lapdog—and Sougo despised that fact. But because Kondou was there, he had no other choice.

Kondou Isao was important to him. And as much as he did not want to admit it, he had come to treasure everyone in the Shinsengumi as well… Yes, even that Hijikata, whom he always tried to kill whenever he had a chance.

That’s why he treasures the Shinsengumi so much. And, that’s the reason why he was so wary of the suspicious people around him.

That also explains why he was so cautious of that old roju’s presence, whom he considered as someone suspicious since Day One.

He cannot understand why the Bakufu had to send such a VIP into the barracks of such lowly rounin like themselves. Moreover, he cannot see a point to the roju’s actions—such as looking at their records—since if it’s just about criminal records, the palace had the most complete records in all Japan. All of the information that they have in the Shinsengumi were also sent to the Bakufu, so it’s impossible that they have some information that the Bakufu itself doesn’t have. It just doesn’t make sense.

Hence, he had always kept his eye on him.

Whatever that roju or the Bakufu had planned against them, he would persevere. He would protect the Shinsengumi, no matter what it takes.

He would protect the Shinsengumi… just like a certain man he knew.

“Oh, if it wasn’t the Shinsengumi First Division Captain, Okita Sougo-kun. Such a coincidence to see you here.”

Startled out of his thoughts, Sougo then looked in front of him to see who it was. Surprised at what he had just seen, he frowned as he realized how ironic it was, since the very man that he was being suspicious of was in front of him.

However, he still had to remain indifferent.

“Masayasu-sama, it’s indeed a coincidence,” he replied, much to his dismay. “May I ask what brings you here?”

“Oh, I was just here checking the records, just like what I always did. How about you?”

“The same reason as yours.”

Smiling at him as if he was content with his reply, he then walked towards a table filled with files and other books that held their records. As the roju gestured Sougo to take a seat, the Shinsengumi Captain hastily sat down the chair, sitting in front of the roju.

Sougo smirked to himself. He was here to investigate about the records that the roju was rummaging about, and now that he was free to observe the roju himself, it would greatly benefit his plan. He then looked at the records that the roju was looking at, and found himself staring at a particular record containing the information about the infamous Joui patriots during the war.

That particular record was still vivid in his memory, as he remembered looking at it after that particular incident with the Mimawarigumi. It was also during that time that he had seen the records pertaining to the four Jouishishi who made a name for themselves during the end of the Joui War—the two of them were the notorious Kiheitai leader, Takasugi Shinsuke, and the leader of the Nationalist faction, Katsura Kotarou.

The identity of the other one was still unknown, although there were rumors that he had escaped the war and went to space by himself. The other one’s identity though, was just recently discovered—it was no other than the Yorozuya no Danna, Sakata Gintoki.

He had always known that he wasn’t someone ordinary at all. Just by looking at his prowess with the sword, one can easily conclude that he was exceptional. However, never did he expect that he was the legendary Shiroyasha, the man who struck fear in both the humans and the Amanto.

The roju, on the other hand, just observed Sougo at the corner of his eye, while the latter was deep in thought.

“I am not someone suspicious, you know.”

This sudden remark surprised Sougo, since never did he expect the roju to say something like that. How did he know that he was being suspicious of him? Was he that easy to read?

Sougo faked a smile at the Bakufu official. “Why did you say that, Masayasu-sama? I’m not being suspicious of you at all.”

“Nothing much,” replied the roju, smiling at him. “I just felt like it, somehow.”

“Well, I’ve gotta admit that I’m curious about what you’re doing, but I’m not suspecting you at all. Please forgive my insolence.”

Sougo then waited for the roju’s reply, yet it never came.

“M-Masayasu-sama..?”

“Well, it’s just one of my jobs as a roju. It’s nothing important, anyway.”

Not knowing how to reply, Sougo can only stare back at him. Silence filled the area as the both of them continued on what they were doing. A few minutes later, the silence was broken, much to Sougo’s dismay.

“Okita-kun, do you know about the Kansei Purge?”

Sougo was surprised at the roju’s sudden question. He had heard of the Kansei Purge before, though he didn’t care about it that much. But still, why would the roju ask something like that?

“I’ve heard of it,” replied Sougo, “I don’t know much about it though, so I have no idea.”

“Ah, I see. Well, it can’t be helped.”

“What’s the matter, Masayasu-sama? Is there something important about that Kansei Purge or something like that?”

“Well, it’s nothing like that at all. Please don’t mind it that much.”

And with that statement, Sougo knew that this Kansei Purge wasn’t going to leave his mind for a little while.

**XOXOXOX**

Everything seemed surreal that night.

The whole living room was dark; the lights were out, and he was alone. Well, not really alone, since Tsukuyo was in her room and Sadaharu was somewhere in the house, but still, with what happened earlier, he cannot help but feel lonesome all of a sudden.

After taking a short stroll along the cold streets of Kabuki-chou, Gintoki went back home to the Yorozuya Gin-chan. He thought that once he took a walk, he would be able to cool off his mind, but it seems that it wasn’t working at all. With every second that may pass, all that he could think of are the hurt faces of his two teenage companions, whose expressions seemed to depict shock from his earlier actions.

And thus, as he told himself that nothing good will happen if he just kept on sulking there, he then slumped over to the sofa, and sighed. Closing his eyes for a few minutes, he tried to force himself to have a good night’s rest.

Gintoki tossed and turned on the sofa, but he still cannot sleep. The scene of the earlier events with Shinpachi and Kagura kept on haunting him, and he was troubled by his conscience, by his guilt. Since he cannot take it any longer, he then stood up and walked towards the bathroom, quickly finding his way onto the sink.

He turned the faucet on, the coldness of the water quickly spreading to his hands. Without a moment’s hesitation, he splashed some water on his face, the small chills sent by the cold water somehow calming his nerves.

He then stared at his reflection in the mirror, and looked at himself in disgust.

He hated himself…

He really did.

Leaning his head towards the cool surface of the mirror, he bit his lip in frustration. Somehow, just the memory of it kept on tormenting him, and he really wanted it to end. However, he knew that he must deal with it one way or another—it was his fault, after all.

Wiping his face with a small towel, he then went out of the bathroom, and turned the lights on. As soon as he moved around to go sit in the sofa, he was surprised to find Sadaharu in front him, his eyes looking intently at his crimson orbs.

“Woof! Woof!”

Gintoki stared at the huge inugami in front of him.

“What is it, Sadaharu?”

The white dog then stuck his paw out, as if telling Gintoki to do the same. Somehow understanding what the dog meant by that, he then stuck his hand out.

Gintoki was surprised as Sadaharu had placed a piece of dog food on his hand. Confused at the action, the samurai then patted the dog’s head, his hand brushing against the dog’s white fur.

“Why’d you give me a piece of dog food, huh? You think I’ll eat this thing? I’m not a dog, Sadaharu. I’m not even hungry.”

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

“Huh? It’s not that? What is it then? You wanted to tell me something?”

“Woooof!”

Seeing that Sadaharu was really being persistent, he then stared at the dog food once again.

He then remembered that incident with Sadaharu a few months ago, when the inugami ran away from home and took care of a sick little puppy by himself. Everything started and ended with a dog food back then too, and as he stared at the treat in his hands, he remembered what he had said to Sadaharu back then.

Moreover… at tiring times, we at the Sakata household get along and share…whether it be food... or pain.

Those words…were indeed ironic to his current situation.

“Sadaharu…”

“Wooof! Woof!”

Gintoki smiled to himself. It seems as if the dog was telling him to abide by what he had said to him a long time ago, and make amends with both Shinpachi and Kagura. Sure, if it’s about other things then he may have abided with that statement, but it wasn’t the same now.

It’s an entirely different matter. He feared that sharing this with them would only make him lose them by his side. At least, for now their anger was only temporary, and he had sworn to himself that once everything is settled, he’ll be the first one to make amends.

He’ll try everything in his power to make up to them.

But first…he needed to reassure the poor dog that everything would be alright.

“Thanks… Sadaharu. Everything would turn out to be fine, I promise you.”

Seeing that the dog was somehow contented with his reply, he then patted the dog’s head once again, and walked towards the sofa. Once he was on his way to it though, his eye caught sight of the small calendar pinned against the wall.

He then made a longing smile.

“So... it’s already that time of the year, huh?”

**XOXOXOX**

The sound of his steps on the rough, cemented ground kept on ringing on his ears. Still, he didn’t give a damn to it, as he continued on walking down the streets of Kabuki-chou, his mind contemplating about last night’s events that transpired in the Records Room.

Okita Sougo found himself intrigued by the words left by the mysterious roju, Ii Masayasu. And thus, after the roju had left the room, he then investigated about that so-called “Kansei Purge,” but he felt like it wasn’t enough. He felt that there’s something missing about the information that he got.

However, it was only a gut feeling, so he wasn’t so sure about that.

Telling himself that he had already done enough for the day, he then stretched his arms and walked towards the park, where he planned to sit and laze all day.

Once he got inside though, his eyes caught sight of a vermillion-haired girl sitting on a bench, her parasol all closed and lying against the wooden surface.

Sougo walked closer to the girl, his mind already thinking of the pranks that he may do unto her.

“China.”

The girl then looked back at him. Seeing her face up close, Sougo realized that she was gloomy once again, and he knew that she wasn’t in the mood for his pranks. He sighed in response.

“Che. Aren’t you too gloomy today, China? When would you go back to your usual idiotic self?”

Kagura glared at the Shinsengumi sadist in front of her, and frowned. She then took hold of her parasol, and fired bullets out of it. However, the sadist dodged each bullet one by one, until she got run out of ammo.

The Yato girl gritted her teeth in frustration. “Go to hell, sadist! Leave me alone!”

“My, you’re telling me to go to hell? You’re hurting this police officer’s feelings,” he replied, much to her dismay. “But anyway, aren’t you the one who should go to hell? With a face like that, I’m sure that you’re—”

Sougo was unable to finish his ranting when Kagura moved her parasol once again, attacking him. Fortunately, he had managed to dodge it in no time.

“Hush, China. Don’t be too hotheaded. You’ll only get uglier if you did that.”

Hearing this remark, Kagura felt even angrier and moved her parasol once again so as to attack him, but stopped halfway, much to Sougo’s surprise.

Why did she stop?

She then stared at him, her azure eyes boring its way into his.

“Please.. leave, sadist. I’m not in the mood for it today.”

“I can see that clearly.”

“If you know that then hurry up and scram!”

“I don’t wanna. And besides, that’s the reason why I’m still here. It’s a better torture.”

“You damn bastard!”

As Kagura stood up in fury and was about to assail her attack, Sougo then sat down the bench, taking the space next to her. Surprised at the sudden turn of events, Kagura stood there looking at him, dumbfounded.

“What are you gawking at? Hurry up and take a seat. Or else I’ll kick you out.”

Not knowing how to respond, Kagura sat at the bench once again, and glared at the young man beside her.

She gave him a piercing glare. “What are you planning, you retard? Why are you still here?”

Sougo looked back at her, and gave her an evil smirk. “It’s nothing. But hey, let me guess—it’s about Danna, isn’t it?”

Seeing Kagura’s look of shock was the only reply he needed in order to confirm his suspicions. He then outstretched his arms and put it across the back of his head, leaning down the bench. “Well, I seem to get that right. So, what’s the matter?”

“It’s none of your damn business.”

“It’s my business. After all, with you being like that, I have one less person to torture with. It’s boring to torture you, with you acting like that. So pathetic.”

“Who the hell are you calling pathetic?” she spat back, glaring daggers at him. “Mind your own business!”

“Well, I’m sincerely giving you a hand here. I want you to solve this as soon as possible so I can resume to my normal lifestyle anyway.”

Hearing this, Kagura had no any other choice but to comply. She then stared blankly at the scene in front of her, and sighed.

“Yeah, it’s about Gin-chan.”

**XOXOXOX**

The skies were clear, and there wasn’t any sign of an impending rain.

This particular fact pissed off the bespectacled boy, since he would prefer if it rained today; at least, if it rains, then he would feel that the skies were sympathizing with him and were crying for his sake. However, it wasn’t like that at all—and he didn’t like it.

Even though he felt selfish with that thought, he just couldn’t help it. With the events that transpired last night, he wasn’t even able to get some sleep. He had hardly eaten anything too. He just… lost his appetite, he guessed.

He convinced Kagura to stay at his house until Gintoki apologizes. And even though he knew that the young girl was reluctant to do so, she still agreed to it, which he was thankful for.

Seeing the depressed figure of the young girl seemed to light a fire on him as he tried his best to act unaffected and strong despite what happened. He thought that once Kagura had seen him act as usual, then she would probably get over it. And even though Kagura may have understood his intentions, he knew that what he’s been doing only made him suffer even more.

Early that morning, he saw Kagura walk out of the gates of Kodoukan Dojo, and he supposed that she would go on a walk in order to sort out her thoughts, or probably, drop off by the Yorozuya Gin-chan to check on that useless leader of theirs.

Besides, despite what happened, Gintoki would always be an important figure to the both of them—somewhat of a brother, a teacher, a father, and a friend. And no matter what happens to the three of them, nothing would change that fact. He knew that. They treat each other as family, after all.

That’s also the reason why the both of them were so affected by Gintoki’s sudden outburst, not to mention that it was also the first time that they had ever seen him act like that. His reactions were enough proof that the man on the picture was someone important to him, and that whatever it is that he discovered, he doesn’t want them to get involved since he knew that it would be extremely dangerous.

But it’s not like they haven’t been with him on dangerous things like that—after all, they have been with him during those incidents involving the accursed sword Benizakura, that inner turmoil in the Shinsengumi, the red light district of Yoshiwara, the war that happened not too long ago in Kabuki-chou, and the invasion of the Edo Palace. They have been with him through thick and thin, so what’s the difference now?

Or was it because he doesn’t want them to know about his past? Was his past more than just being the former Jouishishi Shiroyasha?

His mind hurt just from assessing all the possible reasons as to why Gintoki had acted like that. Grumbling in response, he then heaved a deep sigh, and leaned his head against the windowsill. Being cooped up in his room the whole time, the only thing that he can do was to stare at the blue skies through his window, as he doesn’t have the heart to go outside at all.

He then heard the sound of the shoji being opened.

“...Shin-chan?”

Hearing that voice, Shinpachi turned around and faced his beloved sister with a smile.

“Ane-ue… Good morning.”

“A-Are you alright? You’ve been sulking in your room this whole time, and I was getting worried—”

“I’m not sulking!”

Surprised at her brother’s reaction, Tae blinked a few times before smiling again. “Okay, if you say so. But Shin-chan, you need to get out of this room now, breakfast is ready.”

Shinpachi looked at his sister with weary eyes, and he knew that he was making his sister worried about him once again. “Well, I’ll be there in a jiffy. But ane-ue…”

“What is it, Shin-chan?” asked Tae, giving him the sweetest smile that she could manage. “You can tell me anything you want.”

Shinpachi seemed to stutter, fumbling around for the right words to say. Realizing this, Tae smiled once again, as she walked towards him and stopped just right in front of him, taking a seat on his zabuton.

“Let me guess… it’s about Gin-san, isn’t it?”

His surprised face was enough of an answer for Tae. Ever since he got home, she already felt that something must’ve happened between the three of them, and she deduced that the source of all their worries was no other than that nose-picking, lazy and penniless leader of theirs.

“Did Gin-san… do something reckless again?”

Hearing no reply from her brother, Tae knew that she had guessed right.

She then looked intently at Shinpachi, taking note of all his actions. At first, she considered on badmouthing Gintoki and offering to beat that bastard, but as soon as she noticed the hint of sadness in his eyes, she quickly withdrew from that idea.

At that moment, all that she knew was that it would be for the best if they would solve this problem by themselves.

“Shin-chan… I know that you’re angry with Gin-san, but you’ve known him for all these years, right? And I’m sure that you know him better than anyone else.. You know that he wouldn’t do those things without a valid reason.”

Shinpachi gritted his teeth in frustration. He knew that what his sister has been saying is true, but still, he can’t help but feel angry. Or maybe he should be angry at himself? Since if they haven’t poked their noses on his business, then this would never have happened.

Seeing that Shinpachi was still confused, Tae then stood up and left the room, giving him a longing glance before sliding the shoji shut.

Tae then walked towards the engawa, bringing a broom along the way.

“Darn. Why are men so insensitive at times?” she asked no one in particular as she thought of her earlier conversation with her brother. She believed what she had said earlier though; she knew that Gintoki wouldn’t do anything without a reason for it.

“Ah, they are so irritating!”

“I agree, Otae-san. But no worries, since I’m not one of those kind of guys. I’m a completely sensitive guy.”

Hearing that voice, Tae quickly glared daggers at the Shinsengumi Commander under the engawa, who appeared once again to stalk her. Not wasting even a second, she quickly slammed her foot against Kondou Isao’s face, and buried it deep within the ground.

“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO’S INSENSITIVE, YOU PERVERTED STALKER! DON’T YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO DO? DIE AND GO TO HELL!”

**XOXOXOX**

“I see… so that’s what happened, huh? Seems too troublesome.”

Kagura glared irritatingly at the Shinsengumi sadist beside her. She had told him about last night’s events—only the gist of it, actually—and somehow, it made her feel better. She guessed that the saying that “telling your problems to someone would make you feel better” was true, since the same thing happened to her.

Well, not really better, since she was pissed off at him for being such an insensitive bastard.

“Damn you! I didn’t tell you all of those just for you to comment on it!”

“What do you expect me to do, then?” replied Sougo with a mocking tone, much to Kagura’s ire. “Cry over it?”

“NO! At least sympathize with me, dammit!”

“No one’s going to sympathize with an asshole like you, stupid.”

Kagura gritted her teeth in frustration. The nerve of that bastard!

“You… sadist—”

“—China.”

With the sudden change of tone in his voice, she knew that he was now being serious, at least, for once. She looked at him intently, now waiting eagerly for what he was about to say.

“Do you know about the Shiroyasha?”

Kagura blinked in response. She waited for him to say a lot of things out of the blue, but she never expected something like this. Why did he ask her about this all of a sudden?

“So… what? Do you know about it or what?”

She could’ve sworn that she had heard of the “Shiroyasha” before. However, since she was the type of person who forgets all the unnecessary things, she doesn’t recall when or where she had heard of it.

“I think I have heard about it before,” she replied, “but I think I didn’t give a damn about it back then, so I don’t know about who or what it is.”

Hearing her reply, Sougo then chuckled to himself, which irritated the Yato girl beside him.

“Oi, what’s so funny, you sadistic bastard? I’m just telling you the truth!”

“Nah, it’s nothing,” replied Sougo in between small creepy chuckles, “I can only say that ignorance is bliss.”

“What do you mean by that, bastard? Are you making fun of me, huh?”

“Not at all. Well, let’s just say that he was called like that because of his white hair and white coat that he wore in battle… and he made a name for himself as he struck fear in both the humans and the Amanto—that’s him, the legendary Shiroyasha.”

“Who is he?”

“That’s Classified Information.”

“You bastard… you’re not a time traveler so quit acting like Asahina Mikuru! Stop saying those lines! Tell me who he is, now!”

“Classified Information.”

Irritated at Sougo’s reluctance to tell her anything, Kagura tried her hardest to remember about that so-called “Shiroyasha.” However, every time that she tried to evaluate the description given by the sadist, all that kept on appearing on her head was no other than Gintoki, which made her feel even gloomier by the second. She tried to focus on the sadist’s question, but the silver-haired samurai seemed to keep on coming to her thoughts.

But now that I think about it, that description fitted Gin-chan perfectly…

She had always known that Gintoki was a former Joui patriot. She also knew that he was an old comrade of Katsura Kotarou and that guy from the Kiheitai, Takasugi Shinsuke. However, aside from that, she didn’t know much about him, and she never asked him about it, not that he had ever told them about it, anyway.

And with a blink of an eye, she then recalled Katsura calling him as the “Shiroyasha” back when they had first met the Jouiroushi leader. He even invited Gintoki back then to join him in the Joui and fight with him once again.

So.. that means that Gin-chan was indeed the Shiroyasha… but does it have any connection to what he’s worrying about now?

“Sadist… why are you asking about the Shiroyasha?”

Kagura waited for a few seconds before a reply came from the Shinsengumi Captain.

“It’s Classified Information,” he finally said, a blank look now plastered on his face.

“You bastard! Why do you keep on saying that line, huh? Stop that!”

“Classified Information.”

“AAARGH! You kept on telling me many things and when I ask you about it, you just shrug it off! You big bastard! Just what have you come here for?”

“Well, I just wanna see your agitated face twisted in pain—”

“You bastard! I’m really gonna kill you! Dammit!”

Just as Kagura fumed in anger, Sougo then stood up, and faced the Yato girl in front of him.

“How about the Kansei Purge?” asked Sougo all of a sudden, startling Kagura. “Have you ever heard of it?”

“K-Kansei… what? What’s the name again?”

Seeing that the young Yato was unaware of it, Sougo then walked away from her, bidding his right hand in farewell.

“Well, it’s nothing, just forget about it. See you later, China.”

“Oi, sadist! It’s not fair! Sadist! Oiiii!”

Kagura kept on calling him, but he did not even budge, until he was away from her sight. Seeing this, the young girl sighed in frustration.

“Dammit,” she muttered under her breath, “what a complete wuss.”

**XOXOXOX**

Tsukuyo woke up with a start. Rubbing her eyes with her bare hands, she glanced at the Justaway clock inside the room and found out that it was already quarter past nine o’clock. And, that also meant that she woke up later than usual—which is very unusual of her, since she usually wakes up very early every day.

But she can’t help it, though. She hardly had any sleep that night, and she had only gotten some sleep when she got tired of thinking about last night’s events.

Even though she wasn’t a part of that incident, it still affected her greatly. She had come to treasure the whole Yorozuya, after all. It caused her great pain, seeing them act like that. She wanted to help them. She wanted them to make up with each other and be the same idiotic lot again. She was used on seeing them live a happy-go-lucky life that it was such a great shock to her to see them like that. She doesn’t like that at all.

Hence, even though it’s none of her business, she decided that she would try to make them reconcile with each other, as long as it is within her power to do so.

But for starters, she needed to find Gintoki first. And maybe talk some sense to him.

She then changed to her usual clothing, and tied her hair up in its usual style. Satisfied with her actions, she slid the shoji open, and looked at her surroundings. She then found Sadaharu sleeping in one corner of the room, and she smiled to herself. Sadaharu comforted her last night, after all.

She then looked for any sign of the silver-haired samurai, but she hasn’t found any. Supposing that he must’ve gone out just like he always does, she then walked towards the fridge and opened it. Finding a bottle of water, she took it and placed the cool liquid in the glass that she got from the rack of kitchenware beside the fridge. Her hand quickly finding its way towards the glass full of water, she then took a sip out of it, and walked towards the calendar, ripping yesterday’s date off.

The piece of paper from the calendar was still on her hands when she had finally caught sight of a piece of paper atop of Gintoki’s desk. Curious on what it was, she quickly walked towards it, grabbed the piece of paper, and read it.

I’ll be going out for a few days. Tend to the house for me.

–Sakata Gintoki

Tsukuyo was surprised to find something like this from Gintoki. He planned on leaving when he still hasn’t reconciled with both Shinpachi and Kagura? She felt irritated, but she knew that she wasn’t in the right position to do so. Knowing him, he might’ve had another reason for it.

But where the heck did he go, anyway? What should she say to either Kagura or Shinpachi when they come back here? He didn’t even tell her where he’d be going, and he didn’t even bid her goodbye! The nerve of that guy!

Finding the piece of paper from the calendar on her hand, she glanced once again at the current date plastered on the calendar, and realized something really interesting.

The date was the 20th of November—the day before the date inscribed on that suspicious picture. And what’s more, since he had left before that date, then the place where he may have gone off to may have a connection to his sensei. Maybe he had gone somewhere to find something about his sensei, perhaps?

Seeing no other options, she decided to know where he would go to from no other than that person downstairs—from Otose.

**XOXOXOX**

“Huh? Gintoki’s gone?”

Seeing the surprised reaction of Otose seemed to have disappointed Tsukuyo since she supposed that the old woman may have known about Gintoki’s destination. But seeing the contrary, she can only heave a deep sigh.

However, she wouldn’t give up. Otose may have some idea about it; after all, wasn’t Gintoki her tenant for how many years now?

“Yeah, he even left a note,” said Tsukuyo, as she fumbled for the piece of paper containing Gintoki’s note on her kimono. “Here it is.”

Tsukuyo can only look at Otose as she silently read the note left by Gintoki. She then placed it on the counter, and stared at the blonde kunoichi in front of her.

“Well, I don’t know where he is,” answered Otose, much to Tsukuyo’s disappointment. “That idiot always goes off somewhere God-knows-where, and the next time we knew it, he was already injured, after being involved with some mess. Heck, he doesn’t even go home at night for a lot of times now!

Tsukuyo knew that what she’s been saying was true, since she had been witness to it during her stay at the Yorozuya. Gintoki had always left without a single word, as if not caring if the people around him would be worried about him to death. But still, she knew that it wasn’t like that.

He was just being an idiot, that’s all.

Thanking Otose for her help, Tsukuyo then stood up and was about to get out of the shop when the old woman suddenly called out her attention.

“Tsukuyo, come here for a sec.”

The young woman then went towards Otose, all curious as to why she had called her. Sitting at the chair on the counter, Tsukuyo then looked intently at the older woman, eager on what she was about to say.

“What’s the date today?”

Tsukuyo blinked for a few times before the question had finally sunk in. “November 20. What about it?”

“Supposing that you’re looking for Gintoki, I think he may have gone to that place. He doesn’t tell anyone where he goes though, so I’m not sure. I bet even Shinpachi and Kagura haven’t noticed it either, given the number of times that he went out gambling and going back a few days later. But still… I think I’m the only one who have noticed it.. It was during these times of the year that Gintoki goes out of town and goes somewhere..”

“But… how did you know about it, when Shinpachi and Kagura didn’t even know?”

“I just happened to see the train ticket that fell out of his things, you know. I wasn’t even sure if it was his or his customer’s, but maybe it can help you.”

“So, where is it? Where did he go?”

“It’s only a guess, but.. He may have gone off to Hagi, in the Choshu Region. That’s pretty far from here in Edo.”

It only took a moment before Tsukuyo realized that something about his past or his teacher must’ve been at Hagi, and hence, he goes there every year. But whatever it is, she knew that she has to see him.

“Thanks, Otose-san. You’re a lot of help.”

“Well, it’s nothing, Gintoki’s been my tenant for a long time now and—OIII!”

The sound of Otose’s screams have only resounded inside the shop as Tsukuyo quickly rushed out of the establishment, leaving the old woman by herself.

“Gosh, she’s just like Gintoki… she’s so darn reckless.”

**XOXOXOX**

  
Tsukuyo ran across the streets of Edo, not even caring a bit if she may have inconvenienced the passersby near her. She doesn’t give a damn. Her mind was full of worry for the silver-haired samurai, and by the words left by Terada Ayano, his long-time landlady.

She wasn’t even thinking straight, and she doesn’t even know why she’s been acting like that, running on a rush. Even though her mind told her that she shouldn’t interfere, her body had betrayed her as she felt herself running towards the train station, hoping to see Gintoki, or maybe—hopefully—stop him and talk some sense to him, and ask him to settle his mess first before going to Hagi, or wherever he wants to go.

She just wanted to see Gintoki before anything else. It was what her mind and heart screamed right now.

Turning to the right side of the street, she caught sight of familiar silver locks of permed hair across the mobs of people. Her expression now a mix between surprise and happiness, she instinctively reached out her hand, despite knowing that the distance between the two of them is huge.

“Gintoki…!”

And as much to her surprise, she saw Gintoki stop on his tracks, looking at everywhere in sight, as if he had just heard someone call his name. Finding no one, Gintoki then resumed on walking, his hand tightly clutching his bokutou, and the other holding the strap of the small bag leaning on his back.

Even from such a distance, Tsukuyo can see the melancholic expression on Gintoki’s face. She did not know why, but seeing him like that hurt her; and she somehow wanted to see him acting as usual again, with that dead fish-eyes of his, that lazy, uncaring and idiotic expression plastered on his face.

She tried to chase after him, but she cannot move. It seems that she had just frozen there at that moment, and that all of her attempts to take a step further were futile. She also tried to call him once again, hoping that he may see her, but no voice came out of her mouth.

And it was then that she realized that she was not in the right position to stop him, and that whatever he does, she should respect it—since she’s just an outsider.

She looked longingly at the sight of his retreating figure. She bit her lip in frustration.

She wanted to help them so badly. She wanted to make sure that everything’s alright between the three of them.

And as weird as it may sound, she wanted to make him happy.

However, all that she can do is to stare at him as he walked away, until he vanished from her sight, not leaving a single trace of his presence behind.

“Gintoki…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hagi – This is where the historical Yoshida Shouin had established his juku when he was still in exile. 
> 
> Asahina Mikuru – I haven’t watched all the episodes of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, but I have read all of the light novels. (Credits to Baka-Tsuki!) That “Classified Information” line was said by Mikuru in Volume 1, during the time when she had admitted to Kyon her true identity as a time traveler sent to monitor Haruhi.
> 
> That part with the dog food and Sadaharu was a reference to Lessons 401 and 402, a Sadaharu-centric mini arc. If you wanna understand what I’ve meant, read those chapters.


	8. It has always been a clichéd thing to walk in the streets, drenched by the rain whenever you were ridden by guilt.

Sakata Gintoki was alone.

The chilly afternoon wind brushed against his skin, making his whole body shiver slightly. Still, he didn’t even budge. His sat on his knees with his hands laid flat on the ground, his crimson orbs reflecting the looming sadness that crept its way onto his heart. Heaving a deep sigh, he let out a low groan as his fingers caressed the markings on the cold surface of the cemented structure.

He gave an awkward chuckle, his expression depicting all of the feelings that he held in check.

“It’s been a while since the last time I’ve seen you—”

He paused for a second, and smiled to himself.

“—Sensei.”

With that word finally coming out of his mouth, he realized just how nostalgic it was since it had been quite some time since he had ever called someone as “sensei.” But still, there’s no helping it—there’s only one person whom he’ll ever call his sensei.

It was that man who saved him from his hellish childhood.

It was that man who taught him the way of the sword.

It was that man who taught him everything he knew, and gave him a new start for a better life.

..It was no other than Yoshida Shouyou himself.

Adjusting himself to a more comfortable position, Gintoki tried his best to give a happy and contented smile, despite the fact that it was absolutely hard to do so, especially right now.

“As you can see, I’m doing fine as always. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Gintoki let out a sigh. He surely looked insane now, since he was talking to no one but himself. Shouyou-sensei was long dead; he knew that fact for a long time now. However, he still couldn’t help it. Somehow, he believed that Shouyou-sensei would hear him from wherever he was, and at these times, Gintoki couldn’t help but to talk to him and bare himself to him.

At least, even though he was only in front of his grave, he felt as if sensei was there.

A melancholic expression still plastered on his face, he then poured sake over the grave, the small bottle on his hand now void of its contents.

“I’ve brought you some sake, sensei. It’s just some leftover sake from that old hag’s place though, and only a few drops were left. I’m still broke, you see. I’ve never gotten out of poverty.”

The cemented surface of the grave now glistening with sake, Gintoki noticed that mosses were already growing on its surface, and that it certainly has aged. Well, that’s to be expected—since he, Katsura and Takasugi had erected this grave a long time ago.

The memory of it was still vivid on his mind, and he was furious because of it. He could still remember that incident where sensei’s decapitated head was sent to the three of them back when they still fought in the Joui War. They weren’t able to retrieve his body back then, and they had no choice but to bury his remains back to the place where everything started—at Hagi.

Back then, he was convinced that sensei was an unfortunate victim of the Kansei Purge. A few months ago, he learned that someone in the Bakufu ordered his arrest and his subsequent death. And now, Gintoki learned about something else, something that is most likely to have a connection with his death.

He tried his hardest to know more about it. However, his efforts weren’t enough.

He then smiled bitterly.

“Sensei,” he started, his eyes still glued to the spectacle before him. “Do you remember what I’ve promised to you back then?”

With the sun’s rays enveloping him in a soft light, he continued.

“I’ve promised you… that I’ll protect everyone. I’ve kept my promise, didn’t I?”

I... I’ve kept it… so much that I’ve even hurt them..

“I’m sorry sensei, if I was a failure. But don’t worry, since I’ll hold onto your promise as long I live. I would never let go of this promise.”

With those words, Gintoki then remembered the incident that happened last night. His heart still ached at the memory of it, and despite the fact that he wanted to apologize to them so badly, he knew that he shouldn’t do it—at least, not yet—since he needed to make sure that they would be safe, that they would be fine, that they would be okay…

But even so…

“..Have I even done the right thing? I know that I’ve hurt them, and I also know that I was wrong. But still, should I even go through with it?”

Shinpachi and Kagura were the most important persons in his life. He knew that, and he treasured that fact. And that’s the reason why he did this—because he loves them so much, he needed to hurt them so he could protect them. He may be Shinpachi’s older brother figure, and he may be Kagura’s role model, but he is also their guardian. Surely, with the bond that they have, they would be able to understand him, right?

“Sensei… if you were in my place, what will you do?”

He could already hear the light rustle of leaves from the trees around him.

“What exactly… do you want me to do..?”

Gintoki stared at the clear, blue skies… and chuckled to himself.

“I.. I still haven’t changed, have I? I’m still clinging onto the past—even though I’ve said that I’ll always live in the present, and move forward.”

Standing up hastily, he then placed his gaze back to the grave when he suddenly felt the presence of someone.

“Gintoki… what are you doing here?”

Hearing that voice, he then looked behind him and was surprised to find someone that he did not even expect.

“Y-You… you’re—”

**XOXOXOX**

Early that morning, after her trip to the park and her conversation with the sadist, Kagura immediately came back to the Yorozuya Gin-chan out of habit.

She didn’t realize it at first, but when she came across the front door, all of her hurt and anger came back to her senses once again… but that didn’t stop her from opening the shoji and entering its premises.

She was worried about Gin-chan. Without them, she knew that he probably didn’t take care of himself again. Was he eating properly? Did he even sleep well that night? Did he miss them?

She wanted to check on him if he’s doing alright. That poor guy’s a goner without them, after all.

But much to her dismay, she found no one in the house, except for Sadaharu who was still asleep on the far corner of the room. Grumbling to herself, Kagura made her way downstairs to meet Otose and ask her about Gintoki’s whereabouts.

“I don’t know about that. Maybe he’s at Hagi, since he always goes there during these times of the year. But seriously, what’s with you? That girl—Tsukuyo, isn’t it?—asked the same thing too earlier today.”

With that statement coming from the old hag, Kagura deduced that Tsukuyo must’ve followed him there, which explained her absence. Heaving a deep sigh, she went back upstairs and slumped over the sofa, her favorite sukonbu already in her hands.

She stared at the ceiling. She was used on being alone at the Yorozuya Gin-chan, but with their status quo now destroyed, everything seemed to have gone out of place. Gintoki had been keeping things from them, she and Shinpachi were at odds with Gintoki, and she was alone. And even though it was hard to admit, she was lonely.

She had decided—she’ll be waiting for Gin-chan to come back, and she’ll wait for him when that time comes. And when he comes home, she’ll glomp him like there’s no more tomorrow and then she’ll punish him by making him buy lots and lots of sukonbu…

Yeah, she should probably do that. Damn him for making her feel so worried.

“Kagura-chan? Are you here?”

With that voice startling her out of her thoughts, she immediately sat down and looked over the shoji, where she saw a bespectacled young man right in front of her.

“S-Shinpachi..”

“I knew it. I just knew that you’re gonna go back here,” he said, his right hand adjusting the glasses atop the bridge of his nose. “You never learn, do you? Wasn’t it clear to you that Gin-san doesn’t need us anymore?”

Kagura bit her lip. “I know that he’s lying—and I know that you’ve realized that as well. Gin-chan’s hiding something from us. ”

“Yeah, he’s hiding something from us, and he doesn’t even want to tell us! Look, he isn’t even here, is he?”

A moment of silence had passed, and Shinpachi just stared at Kagura, who was still silent and was obviously very unwilling to leave. Having no more options, he then heaved a deep sigh before giving her a concerned look.

“Okay, it’s your win, Kagura-chan,” he declared, before sitting down the cushion right in front of the young Yato. “I know that despite all my efforts, you’d still come back here anyway.”

Kagura just stared at him in surprise. “S-Shinpachi…”

“You’ll be waiting for Gin-san, right?” he asked, in which Kagura had nodded in agreement. “I see. Then I’ll stay here with you.”

“What? But you’ll—”

“I can’t leave you here all alone, you know. And besides, I am kinda worried about Gin-san as well.”

As soon as he said this, the two were surprised to find Sadaharu right in front of them.

“Woof! Woof!”

“Sadaharu..?” asked Kagura, surprised at her dog’s sudden actions.

“Woof!”

Kagura looked at the dog intently and smiled, as if she had understood what the dog had meant.

“Shinpachi, I’ll send Sadaharu to your house. We’ll stay here and wait for Gin-chan, right? Therefore, anego needs someone with her,” she said to the boy beside her, before looking back at the white dog in front of her.

She patted the dog’s head. “Sadaharu, take care of anego, okay? We’ll make sure that Gin-chan would come back. That’s a promise.”

**XOXOXOX**

Edo sure is vast—and full of different kinds of people as well.

This line of thought had crossed a certain man’s thoughts as he walked along the streets of Edo, the sounds made by his geta echoing in his ears as it collided with the cemented surface of the pavement. The box of deliveries resting on his shoulders, he continued on walking until he reached the bridge that overlooked the long, shallow river—and he stopped.

Resting the delivery box that bore the name ‘Hokuto Shinken’ on the ground, the young man wiped the sweat on his forehead with his handkerchief, and removed the tie that held his long, raven hair in place.

Leaning himself on the railing of the bridge, he looked at the clear, blue skies right in front of him, and smiled to himself.

I need to go home early today. I’ve left Elizabeth alone in the house—he must’ve been lonely.

With a faint smile on his lips, he carried the box of deliveries back on his shoulders once again. He had insisted Ikumatsu-dono that he should be the one making the deliveries, as a payment for her kindness towards him. He had imposed so much on her, and he felt bad that he was even freeloading off of her nowadays.

And besides, it was just a bowl of ramen—and even though he had insisted on soba, he guessed that delivering ramen every once in a while wasn’t so bad after all.

“How much is a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku’s?”

Hearing that voice, the young man turned around, only to find a young boy—probably about seven, he supposed—right in front of him.

“Ne, how much is a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku’s?”

“It’s not Ichiraku, it’s Hokuto Shinken. And no, I don’t know anything about the price. We’re not even at Konoha, so how would I know about that? But if you want cheap yet delicious ramen, then go to Hokuto Shinken.”

The young boy gawked at him. “That one with the duck mascot?”

“It’s not a duck, it’s Elizabeth,” he replied with a smirk. “Well yes, that is the place. Just go there and get your bowl of soba.”

As if satisfied with the young man’s answer, the young boy then turned his back on him. “It’s not soba, it’s ramen. But anyway, thanks again, onii-san,” he said as he ran away from him, going to the direction of Ikumatsu’s shop.

The young boy now finally out of sight, the young man then smiled to himself and walked away.

“It’s not onii-san, it’s Katsura.”

**XOXOXOX**

Gintoki felt his breath get caught in his throat.

“You… Tsukuyo, w-what are you—what are you doing here?”

The said girl was silent as she stood right in front of him, a concerned look plastered on her face. She didn’t reply to Gintoki’s question; instead, she only moved forward and inched herself closer to him.

“I said—what are you doing—”

“That grave—was it your sensei’s grave..?”

Gintoki was taken aback with her sudden statement. How did she..?

“I was right, wasn’t I? Yoshida Shouyou—I’ve heard of him before. Tell me, Gintoki. Was he that man in the picture?”

He was speechless. He did not even respond. Heck, he didn’t even know how to respond!

But Tsukuyo took his silence as a “yes.” Puffing out some smoke from her kiseru, she then crossed her arms against her chest, and gave him a determined look.

“I’m here to get you back, Gintoki.”

With this sudden statement, Gintoki couldn’t help himself but to give her an accusing look. “What?” he shot back, “did I even hear you right? You came to get me back? Why?”

Tsukuyo heaved a deep sigh. She knew that the guy was dense, but she never knew that he was that stupid.

“I don’t have to explain myself, right?” she reasoned out, agitated. “You know what I’ve come here for. Now let’s go!”

He turned his gaze away from her. “You go first. I still have things I need to do.”

I still have things I need to do, and I’m still not ready to face both Kagura and Shinpachi yet—

Tsukuyo observed him at the corner of her eye, and she couldn’t help but feel irritated on how pathetic he was right now. This isn’t the Sakata Gintoki that she knew. The Sakata Gintoki that was etched deep within her heart was the easygoing yet steadfast protector who had a strong faith in his own principles—everything that he did had a certain air of confidence in it. But now, he looked different.

He looked so… lost and vulnerable, and it hurt her to see him act like that. It was the very first time that she had ever seen him act like that, and she supposed that somehow, this place had something to do with it.

“You know, I’ve been following you for quite some time now—but you’re so out of it, you’ve never even noticed me.”

He shot her an unfazed look. However, she took that as a signal to continue.

“What you’re worrying about is pointless, Gintoki. And I know that deep down, you knew that fact as well. No matter what the case is, both Kagura and Shinpachi accept you for who and what you are, and they—”

“I know that! You didn’t need to tell me that—I knew it all along…”

“T-Then… then why..?”

Gintoki fell silent for a little while, until he settled his gaze back on his sensei’s grave. His calloused hands now touching its surface, he then closed his eyes, as if he was reminiscing the past.

“You see,” he started, “I made an important promise with a certain someone many years ago—a promise that I intend to keep until the day I die.”

At those words, Tsukuyo knew that he was telling the truth. She was certain that no matter what that promise is, it was the very thing that made him who he was right now—a man of principle, a man of action, and a man who was—

“I’ve promised that certain someone that I would protect everyone in his place.”

…A man who was the protector of everything that was within the scope of his sword—his own country.

Tsukuyo bit her lip. “But you’ve done a great job at it—you’ve protected everyone. So why are you—”

“How can I fulfill that promise if I myself would place the both of them into grave danger?” he shot back, his voice resolute. “I could feel the impending danger, you know. And I just know that it’s something that they could not handle. And besides, it’s my business. I don’t have to drag them right with it.”

“I-It’s your business? How can you say that? They are willing to help you, Gintoki! You only just have to say so!”

“And that’s the very reason why I shouldn’t drag them along with this! They are very willing to help me…I know that! But this thing is a personal matter—a thing of the past. I shouldn’t bother them with this. I’ll face this thing by myself.”

“Gintoki…”

He stood up and walked towards her, his hands finding its way atop her shoulders. And before she even realized it, Gintoki’s crimson orbs had already met her amethyst ones.

“I’m sorry but you have to go now, Tsukuyo. Don’t worry, I’ll go back home soon. I appreciate the thought—and hell, I’m even thankful for it. But please, let me be. I need to do something first.”

“But—”

“Tsukuyo..”

Steeling her resolve, she removed both of his hands away from her shoulders, and gave him a piercing glare.

“No, I won’t,” she declared. “I won’t leave without you. I’ve promised myself that I’ll bring you back, even if I have to drag you back home with me.”

“You—”

“You may not know about it, but Shinpachi and Kagura were worried sick about you, you know. Hell, Kagura even called back five times this morning, asking about you!”

Gintoki felt agitated. He knew that they would be worried about him, but shoving those facts right in his face was just excruciating.

“And you say that this is a matter of the past? What are you talking about—¬so what? So what if it’s about your past? It doesn’t change who and what you are right now! You are still Sakata Gintoki through and through, and nothing would change that fact! And besides, the one that they knew was not the Sakata Gintoki of the past, but the Sakata Gintoki of the present!”

Gintoki took a few steps away from her as he gave an awkward chuckle. “Stop it. I don’t wanna hear it,” he mumbled as his hand found its way at the top of the grave, leaning on it.

“So what if you’re something ominous in the past? You’re the legendary Joui, the Shiroyasha—so what? Past is past, and nothing would change that fact!” she shouted at him, her voice depicting her sincere emotions which she had never let out before. “Those things would forever be a part of you, Gintoki. And if you’re thinking about protecting someone, then there’s no one in this world who protects someone as much as you do.”

Gintoki could already hear his blood boiling in his ears. He just felt furious right now—he couldn’t help it.

He was only human, after all.

“Shut the hell up,” he growled furiously. “You don’t know anything about me.”

Tsukuyo was taken aback by this. It’s true that she didn’t know him that well, and that she had no right to invade his privacy. However—

..She was furious as well.

“Yeah, that’s right,” she agreed, smirking. “I don’t anything about you. And I never need to know everything about you. Let’s just leave it like that. Suit yourself, Gintoki—suit yourself. I’ve said what I need to say, and that’s it. I’m leaving.”

She turned her back on him and walked away, but stopped halfway.

“I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

**XOXOXOX**

Matsudaira Katakuriko was a busy man. Being one of the daimyo, one of the closest advisors of the Shogun, and the acting head of the Shinsengumi, he had no time to waste—except during his visits to cabarets, that is. And he only visits the Shinsengumi Headquarters during important meetings—such as now.

Kondou Isao could feel the trail of sweat trickling down his skin as he sat on a zabuton, with Matsudaira sitting right in front of him. This was the second time in the month that he had visited the Shinsengumi HQ, and he’s getting worried.

“Kondou,” Matsudaira spoke, “I need to have a word with you.”

Kondou gulped to himself. What is it that Tottsuan had to speak with him alone? He’s getting nervous, since he could feel that this is no laughing matter at all.

But no matter what it is, he is going to face it.

“W-What is it, Tottsuan? What are you going to tell me?”

Matsudaira gave him a piercing glare, which made him flinch in response. “Kondou,” he started, “you should stop on being a stalker and focus on your job.”

“Oi, Tottsuan! I’m not slacking off on my job! I’m doing my job as the Shinsengumi’s commander quite well!”

“I haven’t said ‘slacking’ dammit!” he replied. “I said—stalking!”

“I can’t! I won’t abandon my dearest Otae-san! Otae-san is my life, my breath, my sunshine, my—”

Kondou stopped on his ranting as he felt the cold tip of Matsudaira’s gun on his forehead.

“Kondou, listen closely,” said Matsudaira. “It’s for the sake of the Bakufu.”

Hearing the serious tone in his voice, Kondou knew that he was telling the truth, and that he should be serious about this as well. Adjusting himself as he removed the gun from his forehead, he then looked at him intently, his aura as the Shinsengumi Commander surfacing out once again.

“What is it, Tottsuan? What’s the matter?”

Matsudaira took a pack of cigarette from his pocket, took one stick out of it and placed it in his mouth, and lighted it with his lighter. Puffing out some smoke out of his lips, he then looked back at Kondou, his face depicting the seriousness of the issue.

“It was reported that someone from the government had planned a coup d’état, and was after the Shogun’s—Shigeshige’s—life.”

“..A coup? An attempt on the Shogun’s life?”

“That’s right,” Matsudaira affirmed. “Rumor has it that they’ve cooperated with the combined forces of the Kiheitai and Harusame. You know who it is, right?”

“Kiheitai—Takasugi Shinsuke..?”

“Most probably. We still aren’t sure about this though, but we need the Shinsengumi’s cooperation in order to protect the Shogun. You guys can do this, right?”

“Of course!” said Kondou, his eyes depicting his resolve. “However, wasn’t this too soon? Just a few months ago, the Shogun was about to resign from his position. And it was also said that the Kiheitai had something to do with Sadasada-sama’s death. Isn’t this too sudden?”

“Maybe. But there’s no telling a raging beast’s instincts. Terrorists like them are like that—all of them.”

XOXOXOX

“Shrnngfachwi, chwm herf, thf fhooz’s gwood!”

With this statement, Shinpachi glared at the young Yato in front of him who was busy devouring some high-class sushi, which was left in front of the door of the Yorozuya Gin-chan.

“What?” he asked her. “Can you please swallow your food first before speaking? I can’t understand a thing that you’re saying!”

Kagura swallowed her food. “I said—Shinpachi, come here, the food’s good!”

Shinpachi stared at Kagura, then to the box of sushi atop the table, then back to the young girl once again. He then heaved a deep sigh.

“What’s with the sigh, you bastard? Are you making fun of me? If you don’t want the food then I’ll gladly eat your share!”

The bespectacled boy slammed his fists atop the table. “That’s not it, Kagura-chan! Stop eating that! We do not even know where or who it came from!”

Hearing this, Kagura gave him a piercing glare, before giving him a look that seemed to pity him. “I don’t care, since as long as the food’s free, it’s okay with me. And besides, why are you so uptight about this? It’s been so long since we’ve eaten something as exquisite as this! Gin-chan never buys us sushi!”

“That’s why I said to be cautious, right? Stop eating that!” he exclaimed as he tried to get off the sushi on Kagura’s hands, but to no avail. Kagura, being a Yato, easily stopped Shinpachi on his tracks with just one hand.

“You sure love to nag, Shinpachi. That’s why you’re always a megane. Do you want to be a megane for the rest of your life, huh?”

“If you want to lecture me then do it on my face! Not on my glasses, dammit!”

Kagura chuckled to herself, her face depicting the sheer delight from eating free exquisite food. “Whoever gave this to us must’ve been so rich! Maybe it’s a customer!”

Shinpachi, who finally realized that all his efforts were useless, adjusted his glasses and took a closer look at the piece of sushi in the young Yato’s hands.

“K-Kagura-chan… l-look, this is—”

“Hmm? What is it, Megane?” asked Kagura, who now looked at the bespectacled boy beside her out of curiosity. “What’s the matter? What about the sushi?”

Shinpachi could already feel his mouth watering from the sight of the delicious sushi in front of him. He knew that he shouldn’t just eat something that came from unknown sources, but still.. this is…

He had only eaten this once in his entire life, and to think that he would be able to taste it again..

“Kagura-chan. This sushi…is an ootoro.”

“Totoro? Ah, you mean Tonari no Totoro? But wasn’t it Tonari no Pedoro in this universe? Or Hedoro, perhaps?”

“Ootoro, it’s ootoro. Kagura-chan, this is the most expensive tuna meat that is used in sushi!”

Hearing this, Kagura perked up and ate the sushi right away. “Yatta! I told you Shinpachi, this is really awesome! I bet Gin-chan would be so envious of us if he learns about this!”

“But Kagura-chan! This fact only makes it more suspicious! This is so expensive—it’s just impossible for any of our clients to give us something like this as a thank-you gift!”

“Ah, you’re damn noisy!” exclaimed Kagura, who now took a piece of sushi on her hands and shoved it right into Shinpachi’s open mouth. “Eat this shit, bastard! This may only be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us!”

Shinpachi tried to resist, but he had already swallowed it. Savoring its refined taste on his mouth, a trail of tears ran down on his cheeks as he got another piece of sushi and munched on it.

“Damn it, this is really good! It’s your win, Kagura-chan—it’s Gin-san’s loss since he isn’t here. Let’s eat this thing up!”

Finally acquiring Shinpachi’s approval, the two of them then ate their share of sushi—they ate it slowly, so as to savor the moment, since it is impossible for them, with their lack of money, to eat something as expensive as this.

However, as Shinpachi took a bite on the last piece of sushi, he then coughed violently, as if he had choked on something—and this startled Kagura, who immediately went by his side as he thrashed on the floor, the piece of sushi now laid flat on the wooden surface.

“Shinpachi! Oi, Shinpachi! Get a hold of yourself! What happened to you? Oi, answer me!”

“I—I don’t know,” he answered in-between coughs, as he took a sip on the glass of water on the table. “K-Kagura-chan, I don’t know what happened—”

Before he can even finish his sentence, Shinpachi coughed violently once again, which worried Kagura.

“Oi, Shinpachi! Get a grip! What happened to you? Oi! Is it—is it because of the sushi? Shinpachi..!”

Before Kagura knew it, Shinpachi had lost consciousness and fell down the floor. As soon as Kagura saw this, she immediately nudged him to wake up.

“Oi, Shinpachi! Shinpachi! Shinpa—”

Kagura tried to scream, but no voice came from her mouth. Her vision was getting blurry as well. She felt herself becoming weaker by the second, but before she can even close her eyes, she saw a glimpse of someone—a person whose face was shrouded by the darkness of the poorly-lit room, and upon a closer inspection, she found out that the intruder was a girl… and she appeared to have something on her hands.

Was it a kunai? A shuriken? She didn’t know at all—all that she knew was that the woman was chuckling to herself at what happened to both her and Shinpachi, and she knew that she had to kick this woman’s ass.

“D-Damn it.. Who—who the hell are you..?”

The woman only smiled back at her. “Sorry about that, ojou-chan. But onee-san here is only following orders. Hope you’ve enjoyed my little gift. It was quite expensive, you know.”

Kagura bit her lip. So that food was poisoned, after all. Damn it. She should’ve just listened to Shinpachi earlier. If she had only done that, then none of this would’ve happened. She would—

Before she knew it, Kagura’s vision became even more blurry, until it became pitch-black—and all of her senses failed to answer her.

Kagura had lost consciousness.

Seeing the two unconscious teenagers in front of her, the mysterious woman then inched herself closer towards the two.

“It’s against my code to harm children, but it can’t be helped. We, the Oniwabanshuu, had our own pride as well.”

**XOXOXOX**

The droplets of water trickled down her skin—it was cold against her touch, and she shivered involuntarily. Heaving a deep sigh, she then hugged herself closer to her knees, and looked down the river in front of her, its usually peaceful surface now pelleted by the heavy rain.

Her blonde locks of hair were dripping wet, same with her clothing—since she sat there by the riverbank all by herself, through the rampaging rain, through the cold gush of wind that seemed to pierce against her skin. She was lost, and she didn’t even know where she was. She couldn’t find her way out, and she couldn’t even find anything that could serve as her shelter from the pouring rain.

But she didn’t give a damn. To her, doing this wasn’t enough of a punishment for the insolence that she had done. She had hurt him so much—and she didn’t know how to repent for it. Moreover, she was even thankful for the rain, since it masked the tears that fell down on her cheeks—the thing which she believed to be a sign of weakness.

She bit her lip. She still remembered Gintoki’s earlier expression, and she knew that she was wrong. She had hurt him—she can see it clearly in his eyes, his voice telling her that it was none of her business, that she was invading his privacy… and she ignored it.

And it was then that she’d finally realized that she shouldn’t have done this thing at all.

But it was too late.

The rain was pouring hard, and with nothing to shield herself from the rain, she hugged herself closer to her knees, in a futile attempt to keep herself warm. And with every droplet of the cold water that fell on the ground, her mind kept on wandering towards that silver-haired idiot, whom she had offended, whom she had done something wrong.

Where is he right now? What is he doing now, with the rain being this hard?

Is he okay? Is he alright?

Had he finished what he said he was going to do?

Was he… angry at her?

She shook her head in frustration. She was being ridiculous again, and she knew that thinking about those things wouldn’t be of any help to her current predicament. But even so, it was just hard for her—it was hard for her to think of anything but him.

She then remembered what Otose had said to her on one of the occasions where she and the elderly woman had a friendly chat—she said that there are certain occasions where Gintoki would start acting all melancholic, and that he would go off somewhere, and he’d stay there for a day or two.

She sighed for the umpteenth time. She was an idiot alright. The signs were all there—Otose’s words, the date on the picture, Gintoki’s unusual actions—and she didn’t even realize it. She was pathetic.

How can she forget such an important thing? How could she ignore that fact just like that? If she had remembered it earlier, then she wouldn’t have followed him to Hagi… wouldn’t it be better if she had left him just like that?

But still, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to do so. This was Gintoki, after all.

The rain fell even harder, which made her clench her teeth, her whole body shivering in response. With her being like this, she knew that she would get sick later—but she didn’t care about that. To hell with her if she ever got sick. What’s important was that she was able to learn her lesson—the hard way.

This is a punishment, she told herself over and over, as she couldn’t accept the fact that she had done such a huge mistake in her life. If it was the “her” in the past, then she wouldn’t even think twice on just observing on the sidelines, and leaving them alone in their own devices. However, it wasn’t like that now. She had changed—and it was Gintoki who had changed her.

Back then, she was too focused on her job, on protecting what’s she’s supposed to protect, that she failed to look at herself—and somehow, she and Gintoki were similar in that aspect, as she can clearly see that he had abandoned himself just for the sake of the people he loves. Indeed, it was ironic, since it was Gintoki who had taught her the value of self-worth. And now, she wanted to tell him the same thing—to value himself more, to believe more on the fact that he would be able to protect them no matter what happens.

She was at a loss. When it comes to Gintoki, she always loses her cool, she’s always unsure of her actions, and she always does things without even thinking about it. He’s the only one who can make her act like that—and she hated it.

Why does he affect her so much? Why does he induce her to do things that are out of character for her?

..Why does she care about him so much?

She heaved a deep sigh. She should get going now, since it’s getting late, and she’s getting nowhere.

Feeling melancholic, she then looked at the ground, and she noticed that it wasn’t getting wet anymore. Confused, she then reached out for her hair, and she realized that it’s still damp, but the rain didn’t reach her anymore.

She then looked in front of her. It was still raining, so how come she doesn’t get wet? Why is she—

“Yo. What are you up to? Self-pity?”

She felt her heart skip a beat as soon as she heard his voice. Was she hallucinating? Was she thinking about him so much that she could even hear his voice in her head now?

“Oi, Tsukuyo. What are you doing here? It’s raining hard, you know.”

As soon as she had heard his voice for a second time, she knew that she wasn’t hallucinating anymore. This voice was real—it held the same tone of voice that he used whenever he’s talking to her, the same tone of voice that he usually had…

It was completely different from the tone that he had earlier.

Gulping the lump on her throat, she then looked up, only to find Gintoki behind her, with him facing down on her, his umbrella shielding the both of them from the rain.

Her eyes met his, and noticing this, his lips curled into a faint smile.

“I’m sorry for what happened earlier—I wasn’t myself at that time.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t believe it—wasn’t he so angry at her a while ago? And to think that he’ll even go out of his way to find her…

“G-Gintoki..”

Seeing the concerned look on her face, he then smiled at her—a smile so gentle and serene, that she even felt all of her worries vanish in a flash.

He then reached his hand out to her.

“Let’s go back home.”

Hearing this, she then smiled to herself.

This is Gintoki alright, and she’s glad that he had finally found himself again—and without a moment’s hesitation, she reached out for his hand, with the both of them standing up under the protection of his umbrella.

Her hand still clasped with his, she then gave it a light squeeze, as if telling him that everything’s alright now, that there’s no more need to worry.

And for the first time that day, she gave him a sincere smile.

“Yeah. Let’s go back home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geta – are a form of traditional Japanese footwear that resemble both clogs and flip-flops. They are a kind of sandal with an elevated wooden base held onto the foot with a fabric thong to keep the foot well above the ground.
> 
> Ichiraku – Naruto’s favorite ramen store in the series Naruto. (Duh!)
> 
> Konoha – a country in the series Naruto.
> 
> Tonari no Totoro – My Neighbor Totoro. A Studio Ghibli film that was parodied in Gintama as Tonari no Pedoro. (Remember the episode where Hijikata watched a movie, and there was a girl with the line, “Onegai, Pedoro..”? Yes, that’s it, and there’s still more.)
> 
> Ootoro – the belly of a fatty tuna, and is one of the most expensive and most delicious sushi. (Or so I’ve heard.)


	9. Something eventful is inevitable whenever a man and a woman stay in a single room.

_“Ah~chooooooooo!”_

With that sudden sneeze, Sakata Gintoki looked at the blonde young woman beside him, who was currently shivering relentlessly as they walked side by side under his umbrella. She breathed into her hands as an attempt of warming herself up, but even though it was futile, she still did it anyway.

Her cheeks were flushed, and he can even see that her teeth were chattering from the cold. Well, it was her fault that she was like that now to begin with, and yet he cannot help but to feel sorry for her. She did come here for his sake, after all.

They just continued on walking through the streets of Hagi, under the protection of his lone umbrella. Even though it was still raining, they decided to walk and find some place where they could spend the night.

..And as he expected, she sneezed once again.

“Oi, are you alright?” asked Gintoki. “Don’t worry, we’ll find a nice place to stay soon, and you’ll be able to rest as well. The sick must rest, you know.”

Tsukuyo, despite her current condition, glared at him. “I’m not sick.”

“Don’t fool yourself. You’ve been sneezing for quite a while now. And look, you’re shivering. You have a cold.”

“I don’t! And besides, we should just—hey! What are you—”

They stopped on their tracks. He gave her the umbrella, and much to her surprise, he started to untie the knot on his belt.

“W-What the hell are you doing? D-Don’t be stupid, Gintoki! What are you thinking?”

“Just shut up and hold the umbrella!” he replied agitatedly as he removed his yukata away from his body, and gave it to her. Tsukuyo, on the other hand, just stared at him in confusion.

“W-What are you doing?” she asked, giving him a blank stare.

“My yukata. You’re cold, right? Use it.”

“W-Why? You don’t have to do that! And I’m not cold! I’m fine!”

“You aren’t fine. Come on, use it!”

“I don’t want to! I’m fine! You don’t have to worry about me!”

And with that sudden statement, Gintoki glared daggers at her, before heaving a deep sigh. His hand finding its way on his permed silver hair, he then grumbled in frustration.

“Ah~ you never know when to stop, huh? You know, you should let others take care of you as well!” he exclaimed, and placed the yukata atop her shoulders, adjusting it on her small frame.

“O-Oi! Stop that!” she shouted embarrassedly and tried to stop him, but to no avail. Even though she was against it, her own body had betrayed her as she immediately held the yukata closer to her own body, reveling on its warmth and comfort.

“You’re sick because of me. This is the least I could do—for now,” he said, and took hold of the umbrella once again.

Tsukuyo, who now wore Gintoki’s yukata to at least keep her warm for the time being, could not help but feel embarrassed. His warmth was still there on his yukata, as well as his scent. Somehow, wearing his yukata made her feel more relaxed, despite the fact that she still felt dizzy. But at least, she felt better now.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, it seems that he won this time.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah,” she affirmed. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Yeah.”

She stopped walking.

“Ne, Gintoki..”

“What?”

“Do you think we’ll be able to find a place to stay by now?”

Gintoki suddenly stopped on his tracks, much to her surprise. He then gave her a blank look.

“What do you think?”

Tsukuyo sighed at this. They’ve been walking for quite some time now, and they still haven’t found any sign of people or houses in the area. So does this mean that they’ll be spending the night outdoors?

“Oi, Tsukuyo! Look! There’s a light there! Can you see it?” he suddenly exclaimed, pointing out to the light a few meters away from them. “It seems like we’ve gotten lucky now! We’ll be able to spend the night there!”

**XOXOXOX**

Desperate for finding a place to rest, the both of them went towards the light that Gintoki had pointed out a while ago. And upon closer inspection, it appeared that the heavens have finally smiled upon them, since that place wasn’t a house, but rather, a restaurant.

The smell of food already filling their nostrils, they entered the shop. They haven’t eaten anything ever since they’ve arrived in Hagi, and with the presence of food right in front of them, they could already feel their stomachs grumbling in hunger.

On the other hand, the place was filled with people of all ages. He sighed. They sure found a busy place to stay.

“Irasshaimase!”

With a curt bow, both adults went towards an empty table, and immediately grabbed the menu. The waitress, who still had a smile plastered on her face, approached them.

“So, what’s your order, Danna-sama?” she asked Gintoki, who was now busily scanning through all the pages. Seeing that he was still busy with whatever he’s doing, she then turned to Tsukuyo, and asked her the same. However, she courteously declined the former’s offer.

Seeing this, Gintoki glared at her. “Oi, how come you didn’t order anything? You’ve got some in you, right? You’ve got cash, right?”

She shook her head. “I don’t. How would I still have some cash left if I’ve used it all for the transportation fares?”

“Well, you’re the Hyakka’s boss, I’m sure you’ve been earning a hefty sum of it, right? Don’t be stingy. Come on, you still have to treat me, right? I’ll give you 300 yen, just order something! I’m starving here!”

“Why the hell should I? And I told you I don’t have any money left! You’re the one who caused this mess, so you should be the one treating me!”

Gintoki sighed. “I just knew it would come into this,” he trailed off, and called the attention of the waitress. “Oi, serve us whatever’s in the house. Make it quick.”

“So you’re the one who had the money,” retorted the Shinigami Courtesan. “Stingy.”

He glared daggers at her. “What is it to you? Of course I’m stingy! I’m poor!”

“Yeah, whatever.” She looked at the food at the table, which was now placed by the waitress. It was yakitori.

Gintoki smiled at her, as if signaling her to dig in. “Well then, itadakimasu.”

“Itadakimasu.”

And they ate their food in silence, the two of them so hungry that they haven’t even got the time to waste for an idle chat. They were also asked if they would like some sake, into which Gintoki had vehemently refused.

“Gochisosama deshita. Ah, that was great.”

Tsukuyo looked back at Gintoki, who was now picking his teeth with a toothpick. “Yeah, it was really great,” she replied, and gave him a smug look. “But the problem starts here. Do you really have some money?”

The silver-haired man only smirked in reply, which made Tsukuyo nervous. With him acting like that, she knew that he is up to no good.

“Just relax, okay? Take it easy. I’ll handle this.”

“Oh. You mean you’ll run away?”

“What? I don’t do that kind of thing! Especially not now!”

She sighed at this. “And what do you mean by that?”

“Just shut up and watch.”

As soon as he said those words, he immediately stood up and walked towards the counter. Curious on what he was about to do, Tsukuyo followed him shortly thereafter.

They then came across a woman who was currently sitting at the counter. She had her shoulder-length hair tied up into a bun, and she was wearing a typical kimono with an apron. Judging from her appearance, she looked like she was about in her late thirties.

“How can I help you, okyaku-sama?”

Gintoki walked towards the woman. “We just had two orders of yakitori.”

The woman just stared at him. “So?”

“We have no money.”

“Then go look for one.”

“It’s impossible. And besides, we aren’t from here.”

“I see,” she then replied, and stood up. Glaring back at Gintoki, she then raised her hand furiously, and as soon as he tried to defend himself, she then used that to her advantage and took hold of his ear, and pinched it with all her might.

“OUUUUUUUUUCHH! S-STOOOOOOP! STOP THAT YOU OLD HAG! I’M TRYING TO OFFER YOU SOMETHING NICE HERE!”

“SHUT UP! I DON’T GIVE AWAY FOOD FOR FREE! AND WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING AN OLD HAG, HUH?”

“OBVIOUSLY IT’S YOU— OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCHH!!”

Faced with that scenario, Tsukuyo cannot help but to heave a sigh. She knew that Gintoki was a tactless person, but to think that he’ll do something as stupid as this was just out of her expectations.

“Idiot,” she mumbled to herself, and walked towards the two, which made them stop on their tracks. The woman, on the other hand, looked at her.

“Ah, your wife looks lovely!” she exclaimed, and immediately clasped Tsukuyo’s hands with her own. “But she’s drenched! She might get sick!” She then turned to Gintoki. “Oi, you bastard. Why did you leave your wife like this? What if she gets sick?”

“Hah? What do you mean by that? And besides, it’s not like that, she’s not my wife—”

Much to his dismay, the woman wasn’t listening to him. She just kept on fussing about Tsukuyo, and she even got her a towel and a change of clothes from who-knows-where. Irritated, he tried to cough a little just to get her attention, but to no avail. Pissed off, Gintoki fumed in anger.

“OIIIIIIIIIIIII! LISTEN TO MEEEEEE!”

“SHUT UP, DAMMIT! You should be thankful of me for taking care of your wife!”

Gintoki, though completely pissed off, tried to get a hold of himself. “I told you, it’s not like that! I said—”

“Gintoki,” retorted Tsukuyo, “I think you should be a lot nicer to Matsushita-san from now on.”

_SO YOU’RE GOING TO SIDE WITH HEEEEER? WHAT THE HELL’S GOING ON HERE! I’M THE ONE YOU SHOULD BE SIDING WITH, DAMMIT!_

“That’s right, you damn permed bastard. Tsukuyo-chan’s completely right.”

_I DON’T MEAN YOUUUUUUUU! AND WHAT, YOU’RE FRIENDS ALREADY? THAT’S DAMN FAAAAASSSSTTTTTT!_

“Ah, Matsushita-san, I think Gintoki’s going to offer you something, if you don’t mind.”

_AH, TSUKUYOOO! YOU SURE KNOW HOW TO READ THE MOOD!_

“He’s going to offer you 300 yen if you let us off with the food. It includes the payment for a spare room where we could spend the night with.”

_IT’S NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL! AND WHY DO YOU THINK SHE’S GOING TO LET US OFF WITH 300 YEN? AND THAT LAST SENTENCE OF YOURS SOUNDS REALLY DIRTYYYYYY!_

But much to his surprise, it seems that the woman named Matsushita was shocked from Tsukuyo’s words. She then looked at Gintoki and eyed him suspiciously, before smiling at the young blonde woman in front of her.

“Well then, since you insist and it appears that you don’t have any more places to stay, then you can stay the night here. However, both of you must work for me.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to say to you all these time,” he mumbled under his breath, and scowled.

“Well then, mister…. Uh.. You’re…”

“It’s Gin-san. Call me Gin-san.”

“Right. Gin-san, you could do some work, right?”

Gintoki smiled at this. “Of course I can. If you leave the kitchen to me, and make Tsukuyo wash the dishes, then all would be solved, right?”

**XOXOXOX**

And with Matsushita-san’s approval, the two of them were hired for a part-time job in the restaurant for a night. Gintoki helped in the kitchen, while Tsukuyo washed the dishes and helped on serving the guests. This proved to be very helpful, since a lot of guests came after hearing the news that a beautiful newcomer was hired as a waitress at the place. And with faced with this fact, Matsushita-san can only smile in approval.

However, there is one thing that she cannot stand.

“OIIIIII! What the hell are you doing? This is not a patisserie! Why the hell are you making cakes? Make some damn food, you bastard!”

Hearing this, Gintoki stopped on his tracks and licked the icing on his fingers, before facing Matsushita-san. “What is it?” he replied. “I am making food. Can’t you see this cake?”

“I’ve gotta admit that you’re really good at making sweets, but can’t you please do that for some other time? I’ve got a business to do here! If it weren’t for your wife, I would’ve kicked you out of this place a long time ago!”

“I told you it’s not like that! And besides, I need my sugar to function properly. I promise I’ll cook those other orders once I’ve finished making this.”

“That is your third cake for the day. You’re just making excuses!”

“But didn’t you sell off two of my cakes to other customers? I haven’t even eaten a single piece!”

Grumbling in response, Matsushita-san only scowled at him, and sighed. “Do what you want,” she finally said, and walked away. “But just make sure that you’ve finished all of the orders by an hour.”

**XOXOXOX**

It was quite a shock for Matsushita-san to find out that Gintoki was a good cook. Not only did he make dishes that are on par with her restaurant’s menu, but she was able to sell sweets as well. And most of all, the fact that her earnings doubled than usual brought such a big smile on her face, that she wouldn’t even mind if those two guests of hers would stay for a few more days.

However, there was a huge problem: their lodgings.

This is a restaurant. Sure, there may have been rooms where she and the other occupants may sleep in, but there wasn’t a guest room or anything like that. All that she had was a small, empty storage room which she hadn’t gone to for months. Faced with that fact, she had no choice but to tell everything to Gintoki and Tsukuyo.

“It’s okay with me,” said Tsukuyo. “I’m used to it, anyway. And besides, you’re making us stay the night for free, so I’m really grateful.”

Matsushita-san smiled at this. “Thank you, Tsukuyo-chan. Don’t worry, I’ll clean up the room in a jiffy for you.” She then turned to Gintoki. “And how about you, Gin-san?”

The said man grumbled in response. “It can’t be helped, right? I’ll gladly accept the offer.”

Seeing that everything’s settled now, Matsushita-san smiled at them. However, as she looked at the both of them as they sat on a zabuton, she noticed that they are sitting too far apart from each other, and they aren’t even that close with each other on a physical level.

A thought suddenly entered her mind.

“Gin-san, Tsukuyo-chan… are you sure you’re really married?”

Hearing those words, both Tsukuyo and Gintoki fell silent.

_WHAT KIND OF NONSENSE ARE YOU SPOUTING, YOU DAMN HAG?_

The silver-haired man pointed at the older woman. “I told you it isn’t like that, you old hag! Tsukuyo and I aren’t like—”

“You know, I am completely against the idea of unmarried people staying together or travelling together, especially if they’re going to sleep in the same room. So if it turns out that you and Tsukuyo-chan aren’t married, then I have no choice but to kick the both of you out. Is that understood?”

Faced with this dilemma, Gintoki and Tsukuyo looked at each other, their faces clearly depicting the huge trouble that they were in. It’s good that they have found a place to stay, but if she finds out that they weren’t married, all of their efforts would be in vain! And they wouldn’t have any place to stay as well!

‘Oi, Gintoki! What are we going to do now? Are we going to tell her the truth? Or are we going to pretend that we’re a couple?’

‘We don’t have any choices left, you know. We’ve gotta do this, if that’s what she wants. And besides, we’ve done it before. And we’ll be leaving tomorrow as well.’

Gintoki then gave an awkward grin, before pulling Tsukuyo towards him. “We’re a couple. We are a lovey-dovey couple. We’ve even done some puff-puff some time ago. We’ve been married for three years now and we even have two kids. Right, Tsukuyo?”

_OI, GINTOKIIIII! THAT PUFF-PUFF ACTION PART SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT UNSAID!_

Tsukuyo, though quite pissed off with what he had just said, nodded in response. “Yes, anata. Dia and Block are even waiting for us in Edo.”

“Dia? Block? Those are crazy names!” remarked Matsushita-san, who now took a sip out of her tea. “And being lovey-dovey is certainly great. Ah, I’m so envious, my husband just left me all alone and went off with some other girl…”

_SO THAT’S WHY YOU’RE SO AGAINST THE IDEA OF TWO UNMARRIED PEOPLE STAYING TOGETHER! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO BITTER? AND BESIDES, WE HAVEN’T ASKED YOU TO TELL US YOUR LIFE!_

“Well then, now that everything’s settled, let’s go to your room.”

**XOXOXOX**

As expected, the storage room was indeed small and cramped. It was clean and empty now, except for a single futon and a candle inside.

Gintoki looked at Matsushita-san with his lazy-looking eyes. “I thought you’re going to share us a room with two futons?”

“Huh? But I thought you’re a couple? And besides, this room is so small that another futon won’t fit in here. Moreover, we don’t have any futons left.”

“Errr.. even blankets? Just a few more blankets would do…”

“Sorry, but we haven’t got any. Just be grateful that you’ve found a place to stay, you ungrateful bastard.”

“Then at least make the futon large enough for two people to fit in! Just look at how small this is! The two of us won’t even fit in here!”

“But you’re a couple, right? Then you know what to do!”

“What do you mean by ‘you know what to do?’ I don’t know what to do! And I don’t want to know what’s on your mind, either!”

Faced with that reply, Matsushita-san just heaved a deep sigh, before giving them a knowing smile. And with that she bid farewell, much to Gintoki’s chagrin.

Tsukuyo then looked at the man in front of her. “So, what are we going to do now?”

“I don’t know. Sleep, perhaps? You take the futon. I’ll sleep on the floor. Just a few blankets would be enough.”

“But it’s raining hard. The floor’s really cold. And it’s really chilly in here.”

“I know that! You don’ have to tell me that! But.. we don’t have any choices left, right? Come on, go to sleep now. I’m alright, don’t worry about me.”

“But—”

“I said it’s alright! Now go to sleep! It’s already late anyway!”

“But.. it’s okay with me, you know. To share the same futon with you..”

Gintoki’s jaw dropped upon hearing this.

_WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GIRL SAYING? DOESN’T SHE HAVE ANY SENSE OF FEMININE AWARENESS?_

“Y-You know, I appreciate the offer and all but… I think I’ll decline that. It’s sorta bad for us to… you know.. sleep on the same bed and all..”

“It’s alright. As long as I get my two million, then I’m satisfied. Your options are all open now.”

“SO THAT’S THE REASON HUH? YOU KEPT ON COMING WITH THAT TWO MILLION! IN THE END YOU JUST WANTED YOUR MONEY, DON’T YOUUUUUUUU?”

“Ah! You’ve just said that. You aren’t thinking of it anymore.”

“LIKE THE HELL I CAREEEEE!”

A few more minutes have passed, and the two of them have come into a resolution that no one would sleep on the futon, and that they’ll sit on each end of the room, and get some rest while sitting. And even though they did that for half an hour, no one was asleep.

Gintoki just stared at the floor in silence, and tried to doze off to wonderland, but to no avail. All that he can hear were Tsukuyo’s relentless coughs and sneezing, and truth be told, he was really worried about her. It seems that her cold has been getting worse.

She coughed again. And this time, Gintoki noticed that she was shivering from the cold—and sitting on the cold surface of the floor certainly didn’t help either. She had difficulty in breathing, and it appears that she had gone all sweaty.

“Ah, you are one troublesome girl~”

Because he couldn’t hold it in any longer, Gintoki then crawled towards Tsukuyo, who now then noticed him. Surprised at his sudden intrusion on her so-called ‘space’, she was shocked to find him getting closer and closer towards her… and his face was…

Embarrassed, she turned bright red at the sight of him, and was about to push him away when suddenly—

He felt Gintoki’s forehead touch her own.

“W-What are you doing, you bastard? Didn’t we talk about that so-called ‘personal space’ of ours beforehand?” she exclaimed, fighting the sudden urge to scream due to extreme unease and embarrassment.

“Shut up! As if I can leave you alone like this you know!” he retorted, and inched his forehead away from her. He then brought his hand out to his own forehead, and used his other hand to check her temperature. “Wait—you feel hot. Dammit, you’ve got a fever already? Ah, so troublesome..”

“I told you, I can take care of myself! Forget about me!”

“And I told you to shut up, didn’t I? If your cold and fever gets worse, then it would be a hassle! Just shut up and stay still, let me handle this!”

“What? G-Gintoki! Oi, Gintoki! GINTOKIIIIIII!”

Her screams were unheard since as soon as Gintoki stood up, he then went downstairs in a hurry.

**XOXOXOX**

“Okay~ here’s some porridge, I’ve made you some.”

Upon hearing this, Tsukuyo cannot help but be surprised at the sight in front of her. After going downstairs for a few minutes, Gintoki returned with a bowl and a spoon, his handmade porridge still in his hands. With that arrogant smirk plastered on his face, he then walked towards her, and sat down.

“Come on, dig in.”

Tsukuyo just stared at the porridge, then back at him. “What’s with you today? Being so awfully nice to me.. You’re being creepy.”

“What do you mean by that? That hurts, you know! And besides, I’m always nice! Can’t you even see that everyone adores me because I’m a really nice person?”

“So not being able to pay off your rent, as well as not paying your employees any of their salary are a part of being nice, huh? If that’s so, then all those who aren’t like that must’ve been saints.”

“…I don’t like the sound of that,” he mumbled to himself, and scowled at her. Sensing that she had made fun of Gintoki enough, she then smiled at him, and took the bowl of porridge out of his hands.

“H-Hot…” she trailed off as she took the bowl, and blew off the steam. She then looked at Gintoki.

“Since you’ve made this for me and all, then I’ll gladly accept your offer. It would be a waste if I don’t eat it, after all.”

Gintoki smiled back. “That’s good. Come on, eat up. I assure you it’s good. It’s Chef Gin-san’s specialty.”

“What kind of a dumb ‘specialty’ is making porridge?” she retorted back, and took a spoonful of porridge. She blew on it since it was still hot, before proceeding to eat it.

“I-It’s good! This is really delicious!”

“Isn’t it? I may not look like it, but I’m actually a pretty good cook! But I’m still better at making sweets!”

“Is that why you’ve almost gotten diabetes?”

“…Geh. How did you know that?”

“In the wiki. But never mind that.”

She then continued on eating the porridge, until none of it was left. Seeing that she had somehow regained the former liveliness that she had before, he then smiled to himself, and stood up.

He then reached out his hand to her.

“Well, I know that we’ve talked about this already, but you obviously need the futon. So.. get back there now.”

“I won’t. I’ve already said that I—AAAAAAHHHH!!

Much to her surprise, Gintoki had dragged her out of her so-called ‘space’ and placed her into the futon. But before she can even get up, he tucked on the sheets and prevented her to get up at all costs. Realizing that any efforts to object were futile, she had no other choice but to comply.

She sighed.

“You sure are strict, aren’t you? What will happen to you, then?”

“I’m fine,” he replied. “Don’t worry about me.”

Tsukuyo smiled at him. But before she can even say anything, Gintoki had already looked away, before fumbling for something on his pocket.

“Here. Kool Fever.”

He then placed it atop of Tsukuyo’s forehead. She smirked in response.

“You carry those with you? Are you a mother or what?”

“Oi, oi, it’s not like I carry those with me, you know! I just asked some from Matsushita-san!”

Tsukuyo chuckled at this. “Alright, alright. But still, it’s kinda different. Usually it would be something like a wet towel, right?”

“Nah, that one’s a pain,” he groaned in response, and smiled at her. “That’s troublesome. And besides, it’s a lot faster with this, right? It would be troublesome for me if you’re still sick tomorrow.”

“So that’s your real motive.”

“Well, that’s one of them.”

And so Gintoki and Tsukuyo stayed still in silence, as if trying desperately to get some sleep. Tsukuyo was still on the futon, and Gintoki sat on the floor next to her. But just as when the dawn of sleep was finally coming down on them, they heard footsteps towards their room.

“Excuse me but… are you still awake, Gin-san, Tsukuyo-chan?”

Gintoki and Tsukuyo froze up upon hearing that voice. It was definitely Matsushita-san—and the fact that she was here only meant trouble. Those words of hers were still fresh on their minds, and they’re worried if she’ll find out that they weren’t married at all.

They aren’t even sleeping on the same futon. What should they do?

Tsukuyo looked at Gintoki in worry, but he just shrugged it off. From the looks of it, it seems that he’ll just make some excuses and still sleep on the floor—and aside from the fact that it’s risky, she didn’t want that to happen.

So without a second thought, just as Matsushita-san was about to slide the shoji open, Tsukuyo dragged Gintoki into the futon with her.

“Gin-san? Tsukuyo-chan?”

Matsushita-san looked around, and found the couple sleeping soundly next to each other in the same futon, with Gintoki embracing Tsukuyo in his arms.

She smiled to herself. She planned on asking Tsukuyo to share the same room with her since she already saw through their lie, but seeing the two of them like that made her change her mind. She wasn’t the type to destroy budding relationships, after all.

Now, if they would only realize it themselves…

Content with what she had seen, she slid the shoji shut and went back to her room. Realizing this, Gintoki and Tsukuyo opened their eyes in silence.

Gintoki glared at her. “What’s the big idea, dragging me like that? With what you did, we have no other choice but to do that, you know!”

“Of course I know that! But it’s the best thing that we could do… Matsushita-san’s been suspecting us, after all.”

“Can’t we just tell her the truth? It’s really troublesome to continue this..”

“Well then, let’s tell her the truth. But don’t you dare blame me if you’ll sleep outdoors after this.”

“Uh… I think I’ll decline that.”

Sighing to himself, Gintoki was about to get out of the futon until he felt a hand clinging to his shirt. He then turned around to face her.

“What is it this time? I’m gonna get outta here so you can get some sleep.”

Tsukuyo looked at him in silence, her already flushed cheeks getting more tinted with red.

“Stay here. I don’t mind.”

Gintoki couldn’t believe his ears. “What?”

“You can stay here with me in the futon. It’s fine with me.”

“W-What? Oi, oi, that’s not a funny joke, you know! Dammit, you’re making me nervous all of a sudden! Don’t say things like that out of the blue!”

“I said it’s fine, didn’t I? And besides…” She then looked away, her voice decreasing in volume by every second. “I think… I’ll be able to get some sleep with the way you’ve held me earlier.”

And it was now Gintoki’s turn to blush. “S-Stupid! D-Don’t say embarrassing things like that!” he exclaimed, stuttering. “I had no other choice back then! It’s not like I planned on doing that or anything, dammit!”

“I know that! But… well… it just felt nice, you see. Well, it’s the only time that I’ll ask you for something like this, so…please?”

Gintoki felt even more embarrassed at this. He knew that she’s only acting like this since she’s sick, and he shouldn’t take advantage of that. But now that he’s actually in that situation, with her giving him a pleading look which he could not resist… he just didn’t know what to do.

He heaved a deep sigh. “You’re acting really strange. Is it that? You know, that common occurrence whenever one is sick—when they’re acting really out-of-character, or being too honest with themselves?”

Tsukuyo just stared at him in silence.

“Uh.. what? You expect me to comply with your wishes?”

She continued to stare at him, her eyes boring its way into his.

Gintoki gulped in frustration.

“Okay, okay! I just have to sleep beside you and hold you close, right? Okay, I’ll do just that! But don’t you dare blame me if something happens, alright? Do you get that?”

Tsukuyo nodded in response and smiled at him, which made his heart skip a beat.

She’s… she’s really different today… She’s gotten.. cuter, somehow..

“I expect that you won’t hit me when you wake up in the morning, alright?”

She nodded, and adjusted herself so Gintoki can squeeze in with her in the small futon.

..S-Still! She’s still not on par with Ketsuno Ana though! Hell yeah! Nothing beats Ketsuno Ana! Nothing beats her! Nothing… beats…

He tried his hardest to restrain himself, but he felt even more embarrassed when he felt her snuggle closer to him, as if she was trying to absorb all of his body heat. With that thought in mind, he then realized that she was still shivering, and he subconsciously hugged her closer to his chest.

“Geez… acting like this.. just don’t blame me if something happens, alright? Even though I’m like this… I’m still a guy.”

“It’s alright. I know that you won’t do anything. I trust you.”

Gintoki smiled at this. “Ah, that makes it harder for me, you know? With you saying it like that.. Geez. You’re so troublesome.”

“Yeah, I know. Thank you.”

“Yeah.”

She gripped his shirt even tighter.

“And I’m sorry.”

Gintoki was taken aback by this. “W-Why are you apologizing?” he asked, worried. “It’s fine with me. I take that back, you’re not troublesome at all!”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… I mean, I wanted to apologize to you. I’m getting ahead of myself. I shouldn’t have pressed you about.. such delicate matters..”

With those words, Gintoki knew that what she was referring to was that incident back at the graveyard, where she confronted him about his sensei, and of his relationship with both Shinpachi and Kagura.

Back then, he may have been irritated at what she did, but he realized that he was the one in the wrong. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, she was right. What’s frustrating for him is the fact that it would even take him to sever his relationship with the two Yorozuya and get on lectured by a woman who was freeloading off his house before he can finally realize the truth.

“You don’t have to be sorry. If anything, I should be the one thanking you. So thank you, for making me realize my mistake. And I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“It’s alright. And besides, I know that you cannot help it. Even though I didn’t know who your sensei was, I know that you treasure him so much. I am the same.”

Gintoki winced at the thought. From her words alone, he knew that despite all those things that her shishou, Jiraia, had done to her, she still treasured him the same. Even though he died in her hands, just as what he had wished for, she still loved him as her master.

Because even though there are things which may taint her relationship with him, everything would be the same—he would always be her master, no matter happens. He would still be the same guy who brought solace and hope into her life, a thing which she had never seen from anyone else back then besides Hinowa.

Gintoki knew that fact. And he can sympathize with that. He’s the same, after all.

“Even though you may not have good memories with my master, I do hope that you’ll forgive him. Sure, he may have done bad things unto me and to Yoshiwara, but that’s all in the past now. For now, I want to preserve his memory as my master—the Jiraia who created the Hyakka, and not the Oniwabanshuu Tobita Danzou who tried to end his life by creating me. I know it’s hard, but—”

“It’s fine. I’m not bothered by it, actually. And besides, I know just how much you admire and respect your master. I’m the same with sensei, didn’t you say it so earlier?”

“Well, I did, but…”

“It’s fine, isn’t it? What bothers me is how similar we are though.. We both have masters of our own… both of them have died.. and we’re lost because of it. But you, on the other hand, found your closure. I just wish I could find my own sooner.”

Tsukuyo bit her lip. “Are you… still lost?”

“I.. I don’t know,” he replied agitatedly, and sighed. “Truth be told, I really don’t know. I don’t even know what to do now.”

She then looked at him, and her eyes met his. “I’m sure… that your sensei’s a good man. Having such a student like you… I’m sure he’s really proud of you.”

“Nah, I think he wouldn’t. Just look at me. I don’t have anything to be proud of. I don’t even have any good points.”

“Really? But that’s not what I see. That’s not what Shinpachi and Kagura sees. That’s not what everyone sees.”

“So, what do they see? What do you see?”

“You may be like that, but you have a lot of good points, Gintoki. And besides, someone like you—whose soul gleamed of silver amidst the looming darkness, is someone who is hard to find. We’ll never see someone like you, even in a hundred years.”

“So.. you’re saying that I’m like that? You know, marude dame na otoko? In short, MADAO? Is that what you’re saying?”

“It’s an enigma for you to twist my words like that. Really.”

“I must’ve been an enigma then,” he replied, and chuckled to himself. “But you’re awfully talkative for someone who’s sick. Are you sure you’re really sick? You’re just not taking advantage of the situation, aren’t you?”

“Why the hell would I do that? And besides… I’m still not sleepy.. and I… I don’t know, but I still wanted to talk to you.”

Gintoki smiled at this. “Well, what do you know? I feel the same as well.”

A short silence fell between the two of them, until Tsukuyo spoke up.

“Gintoki… what’s your sensei like?”

The man-in-question was surprised at this, but relented to it nonetheless. “He was a good man. He had long hair just like Zura’s, and he had kind eyes. He’s the kindest man I’ve ever met.”

“Seems like it. Was he the one who taught you how to use a sword?”

Hearing this question, Gintoki cannot help but feel nostalgic all of a sudden. He then remembered that time when he had first met Yoshida Shouyou, where he gave him his katana, and invited him to come with him.

_(Gintoki-kun… you are not alone anymore. I know that I am not in the position to pry at your past, but whatever it is, always remember that you have your comrades with you, that you have people who care about you, and people who will care about you.)_

That incident… is where everything had started.

_(No matter the circumstances are, stand tall and fight it head on. Do things at your own pace. Stand up on what you believe in. Be guided by your own heart—I know that it must’ve been hard on you, but you’re not alone, and always remember that. From now on, I’ll be here… I’ll support you in everything, and in turn, let us watch each other’s backs.)_

“G-Gintoki?”

“Eh? Ah, sorry. I just remembered something. Well, to answer your question… He is. But it’s not like we had any specific styles or techniques or anything. Just knowing how to protect is enough.”

“I see. And I’ve heard that you’re childhood friends with the Kiheitai leader, that infamous Takasugi Shinsuke. Is that true?”

“It’s not like we’re friends or anything. We’re just former comrades. We fought together back in the war. Zura’s with us as well, and.. the three of us were Shouyou-sensei’s students.”

“Oh. So it seems that the legendary Shiroyasha is true, eh? I still can’t believe that the legend before had degraded into a useless, unemployed Yorozuya as of now.”

“Oi, oi, that last sentence of yours was uncalled for! And besides, I think my life right now was better than my life during the war..”

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright.”

“Gintoki…”

“What?”

“If it’s alright with you, tell me about the photo that you’ve found. What I’ve said earlier in the graveyard… am I right about that?”

Gintoki was kinda reluctant about this, but he realized that she had the right to know about it—since it had affected her as well.

“Yeah. You’re right. That is Shouyou-sensei. And it was indeed his grave that I was visiting back then.”

“I.. I see..”

“I’m sure that you’ve noticed it already, but that date inscribed on the picture wasn’t just random. It was.. it was the time when.. Shouyou-sensei was beheaded.”

“B-Beheaded? W-What do you mean by—”

“—He’s been purged. That Kansei Purge.. you’ve heard of it, right?”

“Yeah, back when we infiltrated the Edo Palace.. But…why?”

“You’ve heard the reason before. He was suspected of raising a group of future Jouishishi, and he’s been imprisoned for a few years, before he was finally executed. Incidentally, that same date was the time when he was arrested. And he was arrested…right before my very eyes.”

Tsukuyo hung her head low in shame. “I… I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need for you to be sorry. If there’s someone who should be saying that, it should be me. I was the one who caused sensei’s death. If it wasn’t for me, then he wouldn’t have been arrested. If I was only strong enough, then he might still be alive by now. If I’ve only protected him back then, he would still be—”

“Stop that! Gintoki!” she exclaimed, and tightened her already tight grip on his clothes. “Please… don’t..”

“T-Tsukuyo…”

“You’re doing it again. Seriously, aren’t you tired of blaming yourself all the time? Don’t blame yourself upon everything! It wasn’t your fault at all!”

Gintoki fell silent upon hearing this. It’s rare for him to see her act like this, so he was really surprised. However, what surprised him the most wasn’t the fact that she had acted like this, but rather… her words.

Wasn’t it really his fault? Wasn’t he just right there when Shouyou-sensei was taken away from them? He promised him that he’ll protect everyone in his place, but was he really able to fulfill that promise?

Wasn’t it… his fault?

Tsukuyo, as if hearing his inner conflicts, snuggled closer to him, and hugged him as tightly as she could.

“Gintoki… you are not alone anymore. I know that I am not in the position to pry at your past, but whatever it is, always remember that you have your comrades with you, that you have people who care about you, and people who will care about you.”

He was surprised upon hearing those words. It might be a mere coincidence that she had said the exact same words that his sensei had told him back then, but it had the same effect nonetheless.

Those words… oddly enough, it comforted him. He thought that such simple words wouldn’t have any effect on him but… it seems that he was wrong.

Smiling to himself, he then closed his eyes, and held her closer.

“It’s getting late. Let’s sleep.”

She nodded in reply. “Yeah. Oyasumi.”

“Oyasumi.”   
  
Silence then filled the area. A few more minutes have passed since then, and he still wasn’t able to sleep. He then took a peek at the girl in his arms.

She was now sleeping peacefully, her serene expression a complete contrast to her usual stoic attitude. He then smiled to himself.

He found it weird that he was able to tell her about his past since as far as he can remember, he had never told anyone about it before. He certainly wasn’t the type to linger onto the past, and he obviously wasn’t the type to go on telling others about his past, either. However, all of those things were different that night—he was willing to tell her everything, and she was willing to listen to him.

Maybe it was because they were similar to each other? Or maybe because he knew that she can understand him, being in the same situation as he was? He really didn’t know. Still, he’s certain that after telling her about it, he felt as if a huge burden was taken off his back. And for that, he’s really thankful.

He then closed his eyes once again.

“It seems that I really have to thank you this time, Tsukuyo. So… even though you might not hear it… thank you. If it weren’t for you, then I might probably still be lost. I really owe you big time, huh?”

He then brought her closer to his arms, his nose and lips already touching her hair.

“I… talking with you made me realize one important thing: honesty. I.. I shouldn’t hide anything from them. That’s why as soon as we get back to Edo, I’ll talk to Shinpachi and Kagura—I won’t lie to them anymore.”

Steeling his resolve, he then curled his lips into a smile, and drifted off to dreamland.

**XOXOXOX**

“Thanks for having us, Matsushita-san. I promise, we’ll go visit here once we get back to Hagi someday. Thank you for everything!”

“See ya, baa-san. Please don’t be violent anymore!”

With those words at hand, Gintoki and Tsukuyo bid farewell to the small restaurant in the outskirts of Hagi, which served as their home for a night. Matsushita-san, who smiled back at them as she bid farewell, stood in front of the entrance, and waved back at them.

“Thanks for everything and take care, Tsukuyo-chan, Gin-san! I wish you all the best!”

The two continued on walking, and waved their hands in the air in farewell.

“And don’t you dare call me baa-san, you damn bastard! I’m not old yet!”

“But you will become one someday! Treat it as practice!”

Matsushita-san was about to reply, but the two of them were already out of her sight. She smiled to herself.

_Please take care, Gin-san, Tsukuyo-chan. I really wish the two of you all the best._

**XOXOXOX**

Footsteps only resounded on the ground as the two of them walked together in silence along the outskirts of Hagi. Even though they sometimes broke the silence with a few small talks, they remained silent most of the time—it’s as if all of the things that they needed to talk about were all said back that night, when they talked with each other and got closer with each other more than they could ever imagine.

But it’s not like the silence was uncomfortable, anyway. Rather, it was more of a comfortable silence, as if no more words were needed, and that all they need was each other’s presence in order to make themselves at ease.

The silver-haired man then looked at the girl beside him at the corner of his eye. He still can’t believe what happened between the two of them last night—it felt surreal, and yet, it felt so real that he almost didn’t want that moment to end. He had never felt that way in such a long time, and he was thankful of that.

He probably won’t ever forget that night.

She had her kiseru on her lips again, since she was back in full health when she woke up earlier. Contrast to her more feminine attitude last night, she returned to her stoic, usual self, much to his dismay.

Well, it’s not like he didn’t like her usual attitude. He’ll miss the “her” of last night though.

He then sighed to himself. He still had to travel with her back to Edo, so he needed to leave those thoughts of her somewhere and think of something else. Not knowing what to do, he then looked around the area, until his eyes caught sight of a very familiar spectacle.

He stopped on his tracks. Somehow, that place was very familiar. No, it wasn’t just familiar, he’s sure of that.

He took a step closer and looked around.

He was certain now. That place was… something which he could never ever forget.

He then walked towards it.

_‘Oi, Gintoki! Don’t just stand there, come with us! We’re going to go on a great adventure!’_

Gintoki stopped walking, and stared at the vacant lot in front of him. That lot still showed some remnants that something was erected here years ago, and he knew by heart what was erected here back then.

This place.. is the juku where he, Shouyou-sensei, and all his other friends had went to in the past. And right now, he was standing here once again.

_‘Oi, Gintokiiii! Are you even listening to me? Are you coming with us or not?’_

The sight of a young boy with long, raven hair startled him. That boy had been calling him, and yet he didn’t even know who he was. How did he even know his name?

_‘If you aren’t coming then I’m not going to play UNO with you later!’_

With those words alone, he already knew who it was. That boy is probably someone he knew from childhood, and what he’s been seeing is something many years ago… Yes, it is most likely—

_‘It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura! What the hell are you doing, Gintoki? Don’t eat sweets yet, Shouyou-sensei told us not to eat anything till he gets back, right? Just so you know, I’m not going to give you a bowl of soba later!’_

_‘Shut up, Zura. You know that I can’t live without sweets. Why can’t you just be like Takasugi? Look, he’s pretty silent there.’_

The silver-haired adult can only gawk at the scene before him. Before him was the sight of a young boy with messy silver perm, and he wore a dirty, pale-looking yukata which looked as pale as his own eyes.

In other words, Gintoki was looking at himself… more than ten years ago.

_‘Takasugi, huh? Look, Takasugi here only wants to destroy the world. That’s why he always gets good grades!’_

_‘And what the hell is the connection of having good grades with destroying the world, huh, Zura? And besides, where did you get the idea that I want to destroy the world? Is your imagination too vast that you’ve been thinking too much?’_

_‘Oi, oi, Zura, Bakasugi, stop that. If we’re going to follow sensei, then let’s go. He’s not that far away.’_

_‘It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura!’_

_‘Who the hell are calling Bakasugi, you stupid perm? I’ll kill you!’_

Gintoki can only smile at the spectacle before him. He still remembered that time—he, Zura and Takasugi sneaked out of the juku to follow sensei, since they were curious on where he’s been going. Back then, Shouyou-sensei frequently excused himself before noon, and came back at noon. Since the three of them were curious about it, they followed him back then.

However, it turns out that Shouyou-sensei was only exchanging letters with his so-called ‘friend’, and that he was frequently excusing himself during noontime in order to send his correspondence letters in the mailbox. So, if memory serves him right, then by that time he’s sure that someone would come out. And that certain someone was no other than—

“Gintoki…”

With that familiar voice snapping him out of his reverie, he then turned around, and found a certain blonde-haired woman in front him, looking at him with worried eyes.

“Gintoki… are you alright? It looks like you’re out of it again.. Should we rest for a bit first?”

The said man, though surprised at the sudden turn of events, only smiled back at her. “I’m fine,” he then said, and heaved a deep sigh. He then looked back at the place where the juku was once erected.

He was daydreaming all of a sudden, and he didn’t expect that to happen. Somehow, just being in this place triggered a lot of memories, and he wasn’t even sure on how he should deal with it. But…

All of a sudden, he then noticed that a hand was extended towards him, as if asking him to grab on it tight, so as to prevent him from being lost, or from being weary.

“Come on. Let’s go back home now. Everyone’s waiting for you. And you still have things you need to do when we get back, right?” she said to him, smiling.

He’ll take back his earlier statement about her reverting back to her old, stoic self. Somehow, it seems that there’s something different about the way she’s been treating him lately… and even though he didn’t know what might be the cause of it, he didn’t mind it at all. He liked it that way.

He then took her hand. “Right. I still have things I need to do, so we need to hurry. So don’t let go until we reach our destination, alright? Or else you’ll get lost, kono yaro!”

**XOXOXOX**

After a few hours of travel by train, Gintoki and Tsukuyo finally arrived in Edo. There weren’t any problems on the way home, and it seems that the train that they’ve ridden on arrived earlier than usual. Since that kind of thing is in favor with them, they shrugged it off, and walked to Kabuki-chou.

And now, they are crossing the usual bridge that overlooked the river. And much to his surprise, their intertwined hands had never let go of each other during the whole travel back to Edo.

Well, not that he’ll complain about it. He was just surprised, that’s all.

But what’s more surprising for him was the fact that he saw someone really familiar running towards him, screaming his name out loud.

“GINTOKIIIIIIIIII! OIIIIIIIII, GINTOKIIIIIIIIII! GIIIIIINNNNNNNTOOOOKIIIIIIIII!”

Gintoki sighed in defeat. This is what he’s surprised about: Zura’s presence.

“Yo, Zura,” he greeted, and raised his one hand in greeting. “Been here early. What the hell are you up to, screaming my name like that?”

Katsura Kotarou, otherwise known as “Zura”, panted heavily as he reached closer to Gintoki. Once he had caught his breath though, he then looked intently at the permhead in front of him.

“Gintoki! I have something really important to tell you! You really need to—oh.”

Katsura stopped as soon as he noticed Gintoki’s intertwined hands with the young woman beside him. And as soon as both Gintoki and Tsukuyo noticed this, they immediately let go of each other’s hands, and looked away from each other, embarrassed.

However, that fact didn’t escape his childhood friend’s eye.

“Heh. Now I know why you’re back. You’ve found yourself something like this, right?” Katsura said, and raised his pinky finger in response. Gintoki only kicked him in the head.

“THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? It isn’t like that! That’s just a coincidence, that’s all!”

“Oh, so it’s a coincidence that your hand held someone else’s? That’s really something, Gintoki! So you’ve finally decided to settle down, huh? I thought you’re gonna end up being single all your life!”

Gintoki bashed his head against the bridge’s surface in fury. “I TOLD YOU IT’S NOT LIKE THAT, DAMMIT! AND WHY THE HELL DID YOU THINK OF THAT? DO YOU THINK THAT SOMEONE LIKE ME WHO HAD A HUGE CRUSH ON THE CUTE WEATHER GIRL WOULD END UP SINGLE ALL HIS LIFE?”

“Of course! That kind of woman is impossible for you, after all!”

Gintoki threw him to the river without any hesitation.

“IF IT’S IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME THEN IT’S MORE IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOUUUUU!”

Katsura, who was thrown to the river, climbed back up to the bridge in a jiffy, which surprised Gintoki.

“Don’t you dare worry, I have no plans on marrying that weather—”

Gintoki slammed his face once again to the ground. He then heaved a deep sigh, and ushered Katsura to stand up, to which the latter had happily complied.

He glared at the long-haired man in front of him. “Well? What’s the important thing that you’ll tell me?”

Faced with that question, Katsura only made an ‘OMG-I’VE-FORGOTTEN-THAT-I-STILL-HAVE-SOMETHING-IMPORTANT-AND-URGENT-TO-TELL-HIM-face’, which made the silver-haired samurai facepalm in response.

“What? Don’t tell me you’ve been caught up in my business that you’ve forgotten that important thing? Just how useless are you, Zura?”

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura. And I haven’t forgotten about it, either. That’s right, Gintoki. I have something to tell you.”

Katsura then heaved a deep sigh, and looked at him intently, his moronic aura clearly being replaced by a more calm and serious one.

“Gintoki. I’ve been by the Yorozuya earlier since I’ve heard that Elizabeth had gone there for a delivery. By the time I got there though—your house was a mess, and Leader and Shinpachi-kun… as well as Elizabeth… they weren’t there.”

Upon hearing this, Gintoki took a step backward. His whole body trembled. What the hell did he just mean by that?

“W-What the hell are you saying, Zura? Of course they aren’t at the Yorozuya! They might be at Shinpachi’s house right now, suffering under Otae’s tamagoyaki!”

Zura shook his head. “They aren’t, Gintoki. They went back to the Yorozuya while you were gone. And the last place of sighting… was on your house as well. That same fact also applies to Elizabeth. Apparently… someone attacked them.. and took them into custody.”

Hearing this only made Gintoki’s blood boil. He bit his lip.

He went away and hurt them because he wanted to protect them. He was lost and confused because he wanted to make sure that they are safe. He made himself suffer in order to ensure their safety. And now… this kind of thing would happen? He didn’t like it. He certainly didn’t like it.

If something like that happened, then what’s the purpose of all the things he’d done up until now?

He could feel the cold sweat already trickling down his skin. His hands were shaking. His feet were itching to run away as fast as he could.

He wanted to see them. He wanted to confirm that what Zura has been saying was just a big, fat lie. He wanted to make sure that they’re safe.

And so, he wasted no more time as he dashed off to Yorozuya Gin-chan as fast as he could.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Irasshaimase – It just means “Welcome”, and is said to a customer entering a restaurant or shop.
> 
> Yakitori – Yakitori is grilled chicken speared on sticks. All different parts of the chicken, thighs, skin, liver, etc. can be used for yakitori. The following recipe shows one of the most popular kind which is prepared with chicken thighs and leek.
> 
> Itadakimasu – is a phrase that the Japanese say before eating their meal. It means “I humbly partake this meal.”
> 
> Gochisosama deshita – or Gochisosama. This is the phrase that the Japanese say after eating their meal. Translated as “Thanks for the meal.”
> 
> Marude dame na otoko – Hopelessly useless/ good-for-nothing man. This is one of the different meanings of MADAO, which stands for marude dame na ossan.
> 
> Oyasumi – Good night
> 
> Baa-san – old hag, granny
> 
> Kono yaro – Impolite phrase meaning "you/that bastard!" even though "kono" refers to "this". This is one of Gintoki's catchphrases.
> 
> Kool Fever - This product was originally from Japan. It's a cooling gel patch for fevers.
> 
> That part in the last scene where Zura had teased Gintoki and raised his pinky finger means that he was saying that Gintoki had found a girlfriend. In Japan, showing your pinky finger to a person means that you’re asking him if he has a girlfriend.


	10. Handcuffs are useless if they could be broken by a monster.

Tsukuyo can only stand still in confusion as soon as she noticed that Gintoki had sprinted off as fast as he could. She knew that he would dash off to Yorozuya Gin-chan. However, despite the fact that she wanted to do the same thing, she stopped herself from doing so. For her, the most logical choice of action was to remain calm and investigate more about the matter. So for now, she decided to leave those things to Gintoki, and she, on the other hand, would do whatever she can to help.

In other words, if she were to do things her way, then she would have to interrogate the source: Katsura.

She bit her lip, and turned around to face the Jouishishi leader. Still, despite her resolve, she still cannot stop the trembling of her hand—after all, she had never thought that such a thing would happen.

They were still there yesterday. Sure, they may have been hurt emotionally, but they are still doing fine. She felt remorse over the situation. If she hadn’t only left, then this kind of thing wouldn’t happen. If she had only stayed back then, then this kind of thing wouldn’t—

“Tsukuyo-dono, isn’t it?”

With that sudden voice startling her out of her thoughts, she then looked at Katsura, and stared at him. “Yes,” she then said. “And you’re the Jouishishi Katsura Kotarou, correct? Forgive me for my insolence, but I would like to be straight to the point.” Her gaze towards him became sharper, the deeper meaning behind her stare now clearly visible. “Tell me everything you know.”

Katsura sighed. “I assume that I must, then. And besides, with the way that Gintoki is right now, he wouldn’t be able to think logically. His actions would only be confused by his emotions.”

Tsukuyo cringed at the thought. Still, it did make sense.

“Alright. Let’s do just that, then.”

**XOXOXOX**

Gintoki felt as if he had just been stabbed on his chest as soon as he entered the room, and saw the situation for himself.

The whole room was in a mess, just like what Zura had told him. The whole house was always in a mess though, so it was no big deal for him. However, what intrigued him the most was this: if they had really been attacked, then they are sure to fight back, and go back home unscathed, even. But much to his confusion, there weren’t even any signs of struggle no matter how hard he looked. And he couldn’t ignore the fact that they were last seen here, either.

He was terribly confused. Just what the hell happened?

_‘It’s my fault.’_

Was it really his fault? Was he the reason why they aren’t here right now, that they are missing? It never crossed his mind that something as outrageous as this would happen during his absence…

_‘If I hadn’t left them, if I only stayed here, then I might have protected them. Then they wouldn’t be missing right now.’_

He clenched his fists tighter, his knuckles already turning white.

_‘Shinpachi… Kagura…’_

He won’t believe this. He’ll find them for sure. They won’t be missing at a time like this—especially not now, when things are a mess between the three of them. He won’t allow it.

After all, he knew those two really well. Even though they may look like that, they won’t be defeated that easily. They are strong. They are capable. And they certainly aren’t the kind of people who would go missing and get kidnapped or something. They aren’t like that at all.

And thus, still unconvinced on what he had seen, he scurried towards the door and out of the house, his footsteps resounding as he dashed off to find the two other Yorozuya.

**XOXOXOX**

It was already midnight when Tsukuyo arrived back at the Yorozuya. She had done all that she could in order to find the two teenagers—she asked for the Hyakka’s help, she asked for the help of Katsura’s faction—but to no avail. She still didn’t find them at all.

But that doesn’t mean that there’s no more hope left. They had suspicions—though suspicions will only be just suspicions unless proven. She’ll grab that chance though. She won’t allow herself to just sit there and do nothing. She’ll try her best in order to help.

As expected, she found no one at the house. Gintoki wasn’t even around. Knowing him, he’s still probably roaming the streets, searching for the two teens—that’s just how he is. Sighing to herself, she sat on the cushion and tried to assess to herself everything that happened in the span of few weeks.

At first, she and Gintoki were abducted by the Sonjouroushi during a festival in Yoshiwara. They were able to escape unscathed, though someone in their forces had taken an interest at her and with no other choices left, she was forced to stay with the Yorozuya.

Her stay at the Yorozuya was an enthralling experience for her, and she wouldn’t trade it for the world. During her stay, she was able to know more about the surface, about how normal people interact, how people cope up with their everyday lives, and about how the Yorozuya trio lived their lives despite all the poverty they’ve been in.

And most especially, she learned a lot about that silver-haired bastard who keeps on shaking up her feelings.

She cannot put her finger to it, but she experienced a lot of emotions during her short stay there. She became worried—since Gintoki was troubled, and the two other Yorozuya were bothered about it as well. She became anxious—since the Yorozuya trio had a serious fight, something which she doesn’t want to see ever again. She became rash and reckless—since she followed Gintoki to Hagi without even thinking twice. She became sad—because she realized that Gintoki was still haunted by his past.

And now, knowing that Shinpachi and Kagura had gone missing had placed her in a complete depression. She blamed herself for what happened; it was her fault. However, she knew that Gintoki would blame himself more.

If she hadn’t only left, then they might still be—

“Is Gintoki here?”

That sudden voice startling her out of her thoughts, Tsukuyo cocked her head towards the speaker, and found herself staring at the elderly woman in front of her, her lighted cigarette resting firmly on her fingers.

“O-Otose-san…”

Blowing off the smoke out of her lips, Otose leaned against the wall and looked around the room. “It seems that he isn’t here. But he came back, right? He came back… from Hagi.”

Tsukuyo nodded. “Yeah. He came back.”

“You brought him back.”

“Well, you can say so. But he really did it out of his own free will,” said the kunoichi as she looked back at the elderly woman in front of her. “Otose-san, I—”

“Gintoki really treasured them, you know—those two kids.”

Upon hearing this, Tsukuyo stopped on her tracks and listened to what she was about to say.

“That guy… even though he knew a lot of people, he had never let those people get too close to him. No one really knew what he’s thinking. I never even tried to ask him, either… because even if I didn’t ask, I can clearly see that it’s as if he was punishing himself for letting go of the load that he had before.”

Otose brought her cigarette closer to her lips, and smiled.

“That’s why I was really glad that Shinpachi-kun and Kagura-chan, as well as Sadaharu-kun came into his life. The Yorozuya that once consisted of a single person now tripled… and even had a dog. They are the closest people in his life—and they are also the home which he has been looking for. So…”

“..What is it?”

“Tell Gintoki that I came here for his rent. He was on default for three months now. I’ll kick him out of the house if he doesn’t pay the next time.”

“Eh? But isn’t that—”

Otose turned her back away from her, and was about to slide the shoji shut when she suddenly stopped halfway.

“And tell him that the sooner he’d pay his rent, I’ll treat them to yakiniku. So he better make sure to bring Kagura-chan and Shinpachi-kun along.”

Tsukuyo smiled at this. It seems that she really knew Gintoki too well.

“Yeah, I will.”

**XOXOXOX**

His feet won’t stop moving.

He had no destination; he just went wherever his feet had led him to.

He couldn’t stop himself.

He sighed exasperatedly. He didn’t know where he was right now, aside from the fact that he is still somewhere in Edo. However, even though he knew that he wouldn’t be able to find them if he just ran over the place, there’s nothing that he could do.

It was by instinct, he guessed. Running around to look for them—that’s what people would do first. Still, he knew that wasn’t enough.

He gritted his teeth in frustration, and without knowing, his huge fist had already delivered a blow towards the cold surface of the wall.

“Damn it…”

How many hours have it been since he went out to look for them outside? He can’t recall at all. All that he knew was that he was tired and exhausted from pushing himself too far in order to find them, but he couldn’t stop himself.

He needed to find them.

And so, his feet continued on moving. Sweat trickled heavily down his skin. He breathed raggedly and heavily—but that didn’t stop him at all.

Oh, wait. He did stop. And he leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath.

He pondered on why he is doing this. He knew that he was supposed to find the two, but to actually implement the clichéd idea of running around the streets even though they won’t be found in there? It’s just plain stupid. It’s as if the author’s growing tired of this fic and doesn’t want to think at all.

Normally, in this situation, Gintoki would just pick his nose and leave the two alone. No, he’s not heartless. He believes in them. He knew that they would be able to handle this situation. Even Sorachi handles him that way in comedy arcs—though not in serious arcs. In serious arcs, that gorilla still uses clichéd things… such as this.

This was supposed to be a serious arc anyway, so let’s leave it all like that.

Trying to push all those unnecessary thoughts away from his mind, Gintoki took a deep breath and looked at his surroundings. He still hasn’t gone too far from Kabuki-chou; he can still walk home. He’ll try other methods of finding them tomorrow. For now, he just hoped that they are safe.

And so he took a step forward and went towards the direction of his house, until he stopped halfway as soon as his eyes caught sight of a familiar man on television. Curiosity taking the best out of him, he went closer to the appliance shop where the said television was placed. He then took notice of the familiar man being shown on the local news.

‘Uehara Zennosuke-sama, one of the top advisers of the Hitotsubashi group, announced to the public yesterday that the roju, Ii Masayasu-sama, will be holding a state address—’

“Uehara… Zennosuke..?”

Gintoki gritted his teeth in fury. That man was certainly familiar… Of course he would be! He is the same bastard that they’ve met in the woods back when they were being held captive by the Sonjouroushi.. He is also the same bastard who knew Shouyou-sensei.. The same bastard who had that suspicious picture of his sensei..

He’s the bastard who was…the cause of everything.

He chuckled to himself. He didn’t know that things can turn out so simple like this. And this guy had been messing with his life lately, so isn’t it just logical for him to mess with his life right now? After all, he’s just a gay entertainer whose face evolves into Chris!

‘The topic of discussion would be about the recent happenings in the Bakufu which will be held tomorrow morning, seven o’clock at Aburanokouji. He would also talk about the recent coup d’états that happened within the other branches of the Tokugawa Bakufu, and—’

“Aburanokouji, huh? I’ve never heard of that place… but that means Kagura and Shinpachi are in there, right? Either way, I’ll knock the shit out of that bastard and tell him how much of a bitch he was for making things complicated for me.”

Finally finding a lead which would help him on his search for the missing Yorozuya, he then wasted no more time as he sprinted off back home to ready himself for the big action tomorrow morning.

**XOXOXOX**

Tsukuyo tossed and turned on her futon, but she could not sleep. Not even a wink of sleep has even visited her at all. Or rather, she should not be sleeping at such a crucial time like this. But she knew that she cannot do anything about it. She tried her best…but to no avail. All that she can do now was to wait for Gintoki to return, and plan the next course of action thoroughly.

And as such, she got off the futon and stood up, walked towards the living room, only to find herself facing the said silver-haired guy with a natural perm.

“G-Gintoki…”

He only looked back at her with that lazy-looking eyes of his and stared. “Tsukuyo..”

“Gintoki, have you found anything about Shinpachi and Kagura? You’ve been outside looking for them, right? Maybe you’ve—”

“Yeah, I did find something.”

“Really?” she exclaimed, and walked towards Gintoki. “Where are they? What happened to them?”

Much to her dismay, he did not say anything and only looked down on the floor. Tsukuyo waited a bit longer for his reply, but it never came.

“Gintoki..?”

The man-in-question only slumped himself over the sofa, and stared at the ceiling—and seeing this only irked Tsukuyo even more. She didn’t know what happened, and she didn’t know what Gintoki had found either. So if he had really found anything, then how would she be able to know about it unless he says something? Or unless…

Irritated, she trudged her way closer to him and grabbed him by the hem of his clothes. He just glared back at her.

Her voice was stern and clear. “You’ve found something, didn’t you? And you didn’t want to tell me anything about. Is that right?”

Even though this act made him feel a pang of guilt for a second, Gintoki opted not to say anything and looked away instead. This silence, on the other hand, only served as a ‘yes’ for Tsukuyo.

“So I am right. You fool! What the hell are you thinking? Don’t tell me you’re just gonna barge in there alone? Tell me about it! I want to help! I want to—”

“I can handle it myself,” he suddenly replied, cutting her sentence off. “You don’t have to worry about it.”

Tsukuyo was taken aback by this. And here she was, thinking that he had already learned not to do things alone. Was it all her imagination?

“Gintoki,” she started, “I don’t like what you’re doing. Stop this.”

He still didn’t budge. He only looked away from her, a melancholic expression plastered on his face.

“Gintoki!”

He still didn’t reply.

“Oi, Gintoki!” she exclaimed, now completely pissed off. “Don’t you dare ignore me! I want to know more about this! I wanna make sure that they are brought back here safe! After all, if I haven’t left them here, then something like this wouldn’t happen! Gintoki, it’s my—”

“..It’s not your fault. It’s mine. If I didn’t act the way I did before, then this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Nonsense! Either way, you’d still be coming back to Hagi during those days! It’s just a matter of time!”

Gintoki only stared at her, wide-eyed. “How the hell did you find out about that? Are you becoming a stalker now as well? Let me tell you this, I’ve got enough of one stalker, I don’t need it to be two! And besides, it’s my fault! Don’t take all the blame to yourself! I should be the one who’s to be blamed!”

“No, I’m the one!”

“I’M THE ONE!”

“NO, IT’S ME!”

“ME!”

“SHUT UP, IT’S ME!”

“NO, IT’S MEEEEEEEEEE—OOOOOOOFFFFF!”

Much to his dismay, he was cut off as he has been skewered by Tsukuyo’s kunais. And as usual, one of her kunai had found its way on his forehead.

“Y-You know, I’ve always wondered how you’ve managed to hit my head so accurately,” he remarked, tears already forming on the sides of his eyes. “Is this a running gag now?”

“Shut up. Just sit still and tell me everything.”

“And if I did tell you, just what the hell would you do?”

Tsukuyo smirked at this. “I’ll formulate a plan. Don’t underestimate me. I’m the leader of the Hyakka, you damned permhead.”

**XOXOXOX**

The sun was just about to rise when Tsukuyo had dragged Gintoki outside the house for no apparent reason. The latter had suspected that it might be about the plan that she had been talking about, so he made no resistance and followed her. However, once she had put her walking into a halt, he was surprised to see where they had gone to.

They are, much to his dismay, in front of the Yagyuu House.

Gintoki felt a trail of sweat trickle down his skin. “Uh… Tsukky?” he asked, looking at her. “Mind telling me what our business with them is?”

“They’re gonna help us. We need people from the government as backups, after all.”

“What do you mean we need people from the government as backups? That doesn’t mean we’re gonna ask for their help! Aaaaaaah, mou! I should have just gone there alone! If I did, then there won’t be any problems! I shouldn’t have left the planning to—”

As he expected, a kunai had already found its way onto his head, and blood had started to trickle down his face.

“As what I’ve said earlier, is this a running gag now? Is this your idea of a joke? Then what is mine? Groping you? Is that it?”

Another kunai had found its way onto his head once again.

“Just shut up there and stand still,” she replied, and dragged him closer towards the gate. As soon as she was only a step away from it, the gate suddenly opened, revealing the long-haired servant of the Yagyuu-ke, Toujou Ayumu.

“Ah, Gintoki-dono, Tsukuyo-dono. We have been expecting you. Waka is inside,” he welcomed the two of them, and allowed them to enter inside the mansion. And as he led the way towards the Main House, the servant abruptly stopped.

“And oh, Gintoki-dono, don’t you dare deflower my dearest waka or else I’ll decapitate you.”

“I won’t!” retorted Gintoki. “Hell, what’s with you? I won’t even lift a finger on her! More like, why have we come here anyway? Why the hell do I have to meet up with Kyuubei? I need to save Shinpachi and Kagura, not to meet with someone else!”

Tsukuyo, now irritated at the scene that Gintoki is making, jabbed him on his side. “Behave properly, you moron. You shouldn’t make a scene. Only a few people know about what we’re planning.”

“Except that I didn’t know anything about what you’ve planned.”

“You’ll go find Shinpachi and Kagura somewhere in Aburanokouji, right? That’s the plan! And because we’re dealing with the government here, we need people! Surely, we cannot mess up like the last time, right?”

“Last time..?”

“You know, when we went to infiltrate the Edo Castle! We’ve already made quite a name back then, so we shouldn’t risk it again!”

“But don’t you think we could have moved a little easier if it’s just the two of us? And besides, why the Yagyuu-ke? Why not the Joui? Zura doesn’t seem to mind, plus Elizabeth was missing as well, so I’m sure that he’ll—”

Much to his surprise, the said man appeared in front of them as soon as Toujou opened the door to the main hall. Behind him was his fellow Joui patriots—his own subordinates. And upon seeing Gintoki, the same man walked towards him with a stupid expression on his face.

“Gintoki! Finally, you’ve come at last! Today is the day wherein we’ll finally see Elizabeth!”

The silver-haired man only heaved a deep sigh. “Stay the hell outta my sight, Zura. Your stupidity is infectious. We might not even succeed because of it.”

“Nonsense. Stupidity is a cure! Just take a look at you! You lived a long life because you’re stupid!”

“What the hell are you trying to imply there, you bastard? That I’m stupid? That my brain is far inferior than a monkey’s? Then just what the hell are yours then? I think you’re more of a moron than I am!”

“Don’t say such things, Gintoki! If it weren’t for me, then you wouldn’t even know where to find them!”

“I can find them on my own, thank you very much! I can manage by myself, so why the hell am I here, asking for the help of such troublesome people? Aaaaaaaah, so troublesome!” he retorted, and turned his back away from him. And just as he was about to slide the shoji open, somebody from the other side did the deed for him.

And he can only shudder on what he had seen.

“Ah, Gin-san! GIN-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!”

His official stalker, Sarutobi “Sacchan” Ayame, had appeared right in front of him. And without a moment’s hesitation, the said purple-haired girl jumped over him in glee, hugging him and forcefully dragging her lips closer to his face. And as usual, Gintoki swatted her away.

He glared at Tsukuyo, pointing at the kunoichi that was still clinging onto his chest. “Damn you! Why did you even call her here? Just what the hell are you planning? I knew it, I shouldn’t have told you anything!”

“There’s no harm in it, is there?” she replied, and puffed out some smoke from her kiseru. “And besides, since she’s stalking you, then she should have known something about the disappearance of Shinpachi and Kagura.”

Hearing this stopped Sacchan on her tracks, as she had removed herself from Gintoki and inched herself closer to the Shinigami Courtesan. “D-Disappearance? Just what the hell are you talking about?” she asked, confused. “They’re still here when I came to stalk Gin-san a few days ago.”

Tsukuyo was taken aback by this. “Eh? So you don’t know anything? But aren’t you stalking Gintoki every single day? You should have known about it!”

“Of course I do stalk Gin-san! And I will do that forever!”

“OIIIIIIIIIII—!”

“—But I only came back just now, since I went to Nara to patch some things up. There are some problems with work you see, but I’ve went here immediately since you’ve said that Gin-san needs my help! Tsukky! Tell me, what happened?”

Tsukuyo was about to reply, but she was interrupted by the arrival of the heir—or rather, heiress of the Yagyuu-ke, Yagyuu Kyuubei, together with her childhood friend and Shinpachi’s sister, Shimura Tae.

Otae smiled at Sacchan. “Sarutobi-san, would you please lower your voice? I believe that you are causing a scene in someone else’s compound.”

“Tae-chan, it’s alright,” consoled Kyuubei, and looked back at Sacchan with a serious expression on her face. “Two days ago, Shinpachi-kun and Kagura-chan just disappeared without a trace. We’ve tried our best to find them, but sadly, it was useless.”

“W-What? Then where were they last seen?” asked Sacchan, all baffled by what she’d just heard. “There might be some clues there!”

“Unfortunately,” started Tsukuyo, butting into the conversation. “When we arrived there, the whole place was a mess, but other than that, there aren’t any clues or anything. I don’t even know how Gintoki managed to find a clue, much less a possible place where they could be found. And it even looks like he’s just planning to go there alone.”

Hearing this statement made Katsura perk up and face his childhood friend. “You are such a fool, Gintoki. And what do you plan on doing alone? Do you plan on committing suicide?”

“I have no such intentions, Zura,” replied Gintoki. “I have no plans on dying, either. It’s just that… it’s my fault. And the least I could do is to save them by my own. You guys don’t need to butt in. I’ll do this by myself.”

Upon hearing this, everyone inside the room fell into a complete silence, until Otae broke it all with a step towards the silver-haired samurai.

“Gin-san, you must have forgotten that I am the sister, haven’t you? It is only my right to butt in into this matter! Surely, you’ll let me into this, right?”

“Tae-chan’s right, Gintoki,” said Kyuubei. “We may not be able to do much, but we still want to help! Shinpachi-kun and the others are in a pinch!”

Gintoki was speechless upon hearing this. Even though he planned on doing this alone, even though everything was his fault, they were still willing to help him. However, he didn’t want to trouble them for this—but somehow, his resolve slowly crumbles away…

Sacchan lunged herself towards him, and forcedly hugged him like she usually does. “Gin-san, I want to help as well! Let me be in this one! I’ll follow you wherever you may go! And after this, we’ll do our usual routine, okay? Our favorite SM plays which we haven’t done for ages…”

“We haven’t done any SM plays! Stop fooling yourself!”

“Ah, Gin-san, don’t be shy! Just admit it!”

“Gintoki!” the Jouishishi leader then interjected. “You have heard them clearly, right? They believed in you. Now, it’s your turn to believe in them.”

The Yorozuya leader, on the other hand, was unable to say anything. He only looked at them wide-eyed, and tried to assess the meaning behind their words. But just as he was about to insist that he should do it alone, Tsukuyo walked towards him and smiled at him.

“Don’t carry the whole burden by yourself, Gintoki. We’re friends, right? You have always helped us. Now, it is our turn to help you.”

With those words, Gintoki cannot help but to stare at them, and look at all of them straight in the eyes. As soon as he had come into contact with it though, he realized just how serious and sincere their intentions were, that he cannot help but to—

“Aaaaargh, dammit…”

He ruffled his already messy hair with his hand, and gave them a faint smile.

“I guess there’s no helping it, huh?”

He then turned his back on them, took out his Touya-ko, and placed it atop his shoulders.

“The path may be rough and we may not know where we’re going through… I don’t know what’s in store for us once we get in there. I don’t even know if we can really find them there. However, I do believe that nothing will happen if we don’t move forward, that’s why…”

He took a step forward, his gaze settled against the rising sun that slowly colored the skies with an orange hue.

“…This time, let us watch each other’s backs.”

**XOXOXOX**

Aburanokouji is a vast palace-like place that is owned by both high-ranking Amanto and the Tokugawa Bakufu. It is settled near the Terminal, the center of all commerce throughout Edo and the symbol of Amanto occupation in whole Japan. It is about a few kilometers away from the Edo Castle, the official residence of the de facto ruler of the state, the Seiitai Shogun and his cabinet members.

One cannot go freely to Aburanokouji, and it is only open to the public during holidays such as the Emperor’s birthday, or during special events that involves most of the state. State addresses delivered to the public by the official spokespersons of the Bakufu are oftentimes held at Aburanokouji since it is more accessible to the public, and is close to the Shinsengumi Headquarters.

And as such, the twenty-third day of November was considered a special day since it is rare for the Bakufu, especially for the rojus, to show their faces to the public. (With the exception of the Shogun of course, but that’s only applicable to Gintoki and the others.) Many people, in turn, have gathered around Aburanokouji in anticipation for the state address that will be delivered by one of the well-known rojus who served the Tokugawa Bakufu, Ii Masayasu.

With all these facts at hand, Gintoki tried to think about the situation that he was in. He had no basis other than his intuition when he had concluded that Shinpachi and Kagura were really being held captive in there. Hell, he doesn’t even know if they’re really being held captive, either! However, he was certain that this incident had a connection to that man, that so-called Uehara Zennosuke, who was suspiciously a high-ranking official of the Bakufu despite being a Joui.

Gintoki heaved a deep sigh. Somehow, they had managed to get inside the grounds despite the tight security thanks to the intervention of the Yagyuu-ke, who also played a huge part in the security of the place. And as planned by Tsukuyo, Kyuubei and Otae stayed at the area where the state address would be held in order to blend with the spectators and investigate more about the matter, or if something chaotic happens, try to calm the situation and divert the people’s attention away from them.

He, Zura, Tsukuyo and Sacchan infiltrated the compound, and they separated in order to make their search for the two Yorozuya easier. And now, Gintoki and Zura are in the West Wing, as opposed to the two kunoichi who moved their way towards the East Wing.

“You know, it’s really depressing how I’ve got stuck with an old man like you,” grumbled Gintoki as he continued on walking and running discreetly, hoping to get inside the nearest building without being noticed by the people moving around the area. Fortunately, both of them still weren’t noticed, even though he was forced by a certain Joui patriot into cosplaying as another pair of space pirates.

“Jijii ja nai, Captain Katsuura da.” Katsura took a piece of nmaibo out of his pocket and ate it as if they aren’t infiltrating the place but just looking around. “And the same thing goes for me.” He took another bite. “And I don’t want to be called an old man by the same man who looks older than me.”

“Zura, I swear I’m gonna chug that nmaibo out of your throat if you don’t stop eating right now,” Gintoki mumbled under his breath, and glared back at the man beside him. “And who the hell are you calling old? I’m not old! I’m just twenty-@#$%!”

“Look, it is obvious that you’re old. Your age is being censored.”

“That’s because that gorilla hasn’t revealed it yet! But the same goes with you! Don’t you dare forget that you’re about the same age as I am!”

Gintoki heaved a deep sigh. “Ah, this is stupid. We’re getting nowhere with this. By the way Zura, are you really sure that they are somewhere near this building?”

“If my informant’s information wasn’t wrong, then I’m positive. This is one of the possible places where they could be in, if they were really being held captive.”

The permhead didn’t say a word. Noticing this, Katsura looked at him before he gave a sigh.

“But even so Gintoki, how did you come into the conclusion that they are being held captive here? Did you find some clues or anything?”

It took a few seconds before Gintoki had finally replied. “I didn’t. Just my intuition.”

“Intuition? Gintoki, do you realize just how much of a mess it would be if we—”

“I know that.” His already tight grip on the hilt of his bokutou only became tighter. “But we have no other choice. And besides, do you know that man named Uehara Zennosuke from the Hitotsubashi group?”

“Uehara… Zennosuke..? That man, huh? There have been rumors circulating about him, being involved in some shady business or something. Unfortunately, I’m not that interested on other people aside from the Shogun. He’s our enemy, after all.”

“Shogun aside, that man… he’s the same man that we’ve been searching for all these time. He’s the one with Shouyou-sensei’s picture, Zura.”

This piqued the interest of the so-called Nobleman of Fury. “Oh? So you mean he’s the one who’s with the Sonjouroushi, is that it? People in the government sure are sneaky… Well, with that in mind, it is not impossible for him to do this kind of thing. Maybe it’s some kind of greeting for the two of us, don’t you think?”

Gintoki chuckled at this. “Some sort of greeting? Are you kidding me? Who the hell does that kind of greeting nowadays? Well, I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I’d rather not be greeted this way.”

He took a step forward and started walking, with Katsura following him shortly thereafter.

“Let’s go, Zura,” he then said. “Let us go kick some dirty ass.”

**XOXOXOX**

Today is the day wherein the roju, Ii Masayasu, will be holding a speech to all the citizens of the state. And as such, the Shinsengumi was in-charge of the security of the whole area. The Shinsengumi Vice-Captain, Hijikata Toushirou, was not entirely pleased with this at all. He hates getting his hands full.

He is patrolling around the compound of Aburanokouji, and is supervising all of the movements of his subordinates. Things are going well now, he supposed, but that doesn’t stop him from being irritated. Even the fact that his Commander and his First Division Captain who usually goof off are now doing their job well did not help to ease his mood. For him, occasions like this are troublesome; he wished that this day was just an ordinary day, so there’ll be less work for him.

But actually, the real source of his irritation was due to the fact that his morning was destroyed by a single text message coming from the “elite” commander of the Mimawarigumi, Sasaki Isaburou. He woke up that morning only to be greeted by a “Good Luck! \\(^o^)/” message from him—he just wished that he never saw it so that his day would become a little bit better. He didn’t need to be reminded that the main reason why the Bakufu had only chosen the Shinsengumi as the guards was because their headquarters is the one closest to Aburanokouji.

He supposed that Sasaki was probably rejoicing right now since he does not have to do such an “un-elite” job. He’s probably laughing his ass off at them right now.

The thought made him cringe and out of frustration, he punched the concrete wall closest to him.

“Dammit… I need to stop thinking about these kind of thoughts… it only makes me more pissed off..”

“F-Fukuchou!”

Hearing that voice, Hijikata turned around, only to find Yamazaki Sagaru in front of him.

“What is it, Yamazaki?” he said, picking up a piece of cigarette from his pocket and lighting it with his favorite mayo lighter.

“All the preparations are ready. Every corners of the palace are secured by palace guards and all the divisions are on full alert as well—there’s no way that intruders may sneak in with such tight security.”

“That’s great to hear then.” He put the lighted cigarette on his mouth. “We should make sure that we have the tightest security as much as possible. That guy is an influential man, after all. Chaotic things may happen if we just sit back and relax.” He then looked at the man in front of him. “Yamazaki.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Go back to your assigned task.”

“Y-Yes!” Yamazaki said in reply despite being terrified. He then saluted in response and ran off.

Seeing that Yamazaki was nowhere near the area, Hijikata can only puff out some smoke out of his cigarette, and hope that everything would turn out well for that day. Guarding a very influential man is troublesome, after all; those bastard Joui patriots might use this as an opportunity to crush the Bakufu, so they really need to be on guard.

And just as he was about to go to the next building, he then saw a glimpse of silver—a very familiar permed silver hair. He gritted his teeth in irritation.

“Dammit… when I said Joui, I didn’t mean it to be Joui like him!” he exclaimed as he followed that familiar man, but as soon as he got closer to the area, he didn’t see him anymore.

Hijikata was confused. “Did I just imagine it?” He shook his head. “No, there’s no way I could have imagined that. Dammit! Why now? Bad things always happen when he’s around!”

**XOXOXOX**

The faint smell of powder was suffocating.

This thought immediately crossed her mind as her consciousness slowly came back to its usual state, still not noticing the fact that she was, at that moment, at some place completely unknown to her.

She slowly opened her eyes.

She could feel the rough and cold surface of the cemented floor. She also noticed the eerie silence that filled the area, as well as the dim light that served as the only source of illumination to the otherwise darkness-filled room.

W-Where am I..?

Her eyes slowly adjusting to her surroundings, Kagura tried to move, but her legs are cramped.. She then tried to slowly get up, and fortunately, she was able to do so.

“Where the hell am I? Why is it so dark in here..?”

She then tried to process in her head everything that happened.

From what she can remember, she and Shinpachi were still at the Yorozuya Gin-chan, waiting for Gin-chan’s return. There was a box of ootoro sushi left by a customer in front of their door, and they ate it. Apparently, the food was poisoned that’s why Shinpachi got sick, while she, on the other hand, had lost her consciousness. But before she fell unconscious, she caught a glimpse of the culprit’s face.

So with all these facts in hand, Kagura realized that…

“So does it mean that we aren’t at Gin-chan’s anymore?” she finally concluded, and looked around. She then found an unconscious Shinpachi beside her, as well as another creature.

“E-Eli?”

She wondered on why Elizabeth was there with them, but she realized that it was too troublesome to think about it, so she shrugged the thought off. She then looked at the bespectacled boy beside her and tried to wake him up by calling him, but to no avail.

She was handcuffed, so she cannot use both of her hands for the time being. Therefore, she can only use what she has in order to wake him up.

She then stomped her foot onto his face.

“HNGRMPPPPPPHHHH…!”

And Shinpachi woke up.

As if he had been pumped by adrenaline, Shinpachi immediately struggled and squirmed in dissatisfaction, which left Kagura with no other choice but to remove her foot from his face. With her foot finally gone, he then took several deep breaths before he shot her an intense glare.

“KAGURA-CHAN, JUST WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING? DON’T YOU DARE CASUALLY STEP ON OTHER PEOPLE’S FACES! ESPECIALLY MINE!”

Kagura just “tch-ed” at him. “But Shinpachi, you just won’t wake up that’s why you left me with no other choice, you know?”

“HOW SHOULD I KNOW? AND BESIDES, YOU COULD HAVE JUST TRIED OTHER METHODS OF WAKING ME UP!”

“But we’re handcuffed. We are locked in this room. I could not think of anything else to wake you up with.”

With those words, Shinpachi had finally come to his senses, and after a few seconds of looking around, he had finally taken grasp of their current situation.

He felt doomed.

“K-Kagura-chan.. you know, I think we’re really in a big pinch right now that we shouldn’t just talk here casually like this…”

“Hmm? What do you mean by that, Shinpachi? What kind of ‘big pinch’ are you talking about?”

“What I mean by ‘big pinch’ is that we’re in a dire situation right now, Kagura-chan.”

“Really? Why did you say so?”

“Because… we’re practically being held captive. That means… we’re kidnapped.”

Much to Shinpachi’s surprise, Kagura suddenly stood up in glee and jumped around. Confused by her actions, he stood up as well and tried to calm off the currently jumping-in-glee Kagura-chan.

“Kagura-chan! What the hell’s up with you? That’s not the normal reaction for that! You should be crying or worried right now, not jumping happily like a rabbit!”

“B-But Shinpachi!” she then replied with a huge smile on her face, and stopped jumping. “You said that we’re kidnapped, right?”

“Well, yeah. We’re kidnapped. But that’s not something to be happy about.”

“But Shinpachi, if we’re kidnapped then we’re gonna be featured on TV! That’s practically the same thing as being famous!”

“WHAT KIND OF TWISTED LOGIC IS THAT? And besides Kagura-chan, it’s not like we’ll get featured on TV if we got kidnapped or anything..”

“But this feels like we’re in a drama or something! Look, we’re even handcuffed! And then we’ll gonna be saved by Gin-chan, yes? This kind of thing always happens on dramas!”

“Except the fact that this isn’t a drama but reality! Mou, Kagura-chan! You should take our situation more seriously! We do not even know where we are right now! And besides, are the two of us the only ones in this room?”

As if hearing his question, a signboard immediately appeared just an inch before his face. Shinpachi, not knowing what to do, inched himself away from the signboard and read it.

_[I’m also here as well.]_

And before he knew it, a familiar white creature appeared in front of them.

“Aaaaah, Eli! So you’re already awake!”

“E-Eli? You mean Elizabeth-san? W-Why is he here?”

Elizabeth then took a glance at the two teens, and raised another signboard.

_[I got kidnapped as well.]_

“Ah, so you got kidnapped as well! Aren’t you glad, Shinpachi? We have someone else in here!”

“That’s not something to be glad about, Kagura-chan!” he retorted, before finally looking back at the white creature in front of him. “By the way, Elizabeth-san, do you know where we are right now?”

_[I have no idea.]_

“Eli, do you know what time it is now?”

_[Nope.]_

“Elizabeth-san, how long have we been in here?”

_[I don’t know. I’ve just woken up.]_

“OIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! WE’VE GOT A COMPLETELY USELESS CREATURE RIGHT HERE WITH US! JUST WHAT THE HELL WILL HAPPEN TO US NOOOOOOOWWW?”

“Calm down, Shinpachi. By the way Eli, I have a question for you. Why aren’t you handcuffed?”

Shinpachi became silent after hearing that.

_[Because there was no handcuff of my size.]_

“Ah, I see.”

“It’s not ‘Ah, I see’ dammit! Don’t tell me you’ve just realized that now!”

“But we can never know, you know?”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

Realizing that this kind of conversation would get them nowhere, Shinpachi then tried to divert their attention to a question that is more relevant to the situation at hand.

He coughed a little bit in order to get their attention. “I know that we’ve just woken up and everything, but we need to talk about this sooner or later. Kagura-chan, Elizabeth-san… how can we get out of here?”

He waited for a few seconds for any replies, but nothing came.

Shinpachi heaved a deep sigh. “As I’ve expected, neither of you have any—”

“Isn’t it like this?” remarked Kagura, as she pulled her hands away from each other, until the handcuff was torn into two like a piece of paper. And upon seeing this, Shinpachi was speechless that even he tried to do that, but to no avail.

“K-Kagura-chan..? How did you that..? I’ve been trying it but it doesn’t even budge… But you, on the other hand..”

“I’m a Yato, that’s why I’m strong,” she replied a matter-of-factly, which pissed off Shinpachi. “Being strong is already set by Sorachi since Volume 1 of the series, yes?”

“STOP BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL WITH THAT!” he retorted, before finally heaving a huge sigh of relief. “But either way, that’s great. If you can do that, then can you remove my handcuffs as well?”

“You’ll buy me sukonbu afterwards, yes?”

“Why the hell would I buy you sukonbu? I can’t even get out of here!”

“If you don’t, then I won’t remove this.”

“Okay, okay! I’ll buy you sukonbu as much as you want! Just remove the damned handcuffs!”

And as such, Kagura did what she was told. After being freed from the handcuffs, Shinpachi then looked back at the two.

“Now that we’ve removed the handcuffs, how could we get out of here?”

“Isn’t it like this?” asked Kagura as she kicked the wall with her left foot, destroying the wall in the process. Shinpachi, on the other hand, did not utter a word.

“S-Should I make a tsukkomi? Should I still do that..?”

Kagura then dusted off the dirt out of her clothes, before giving Shinpachi a look of triumph. “Shinpachi, I told you that we’ll be able to get off here. You see, I’m—”

“Yeah, I know,” he replied back. “You’re a Yato, and you’re strong since it’s already set in your character by that damned gorilla. Ah, this kinda pisses me off…”

**XOXOXOX**

Tsukuyo and Sacchan, who were still making their way through the West Wing of Aburanokouji, still haven’t found any clues as to where Shinpachi and the others are. With both of them being ninjas, it was a tad too easy for them to infiltrate the area without being noticed, and thus, they have successfully infiltrated one of the buildings.

They are now making their way towards the topmost floor of the building that they’ve just entered.

Their main objective is to get the two Yorozuya back. However, even though she knew that, Tsukuyo cannot help but to feel curious as to what the kunoichi beside her has said before.

And thus, the only way to ease her curiosity was to ask.

“S-Sarutobi,” she then said, which took Sacchan’s attention. “What are you doing in Nara?”

Sacchan, on the other hand, was surprised upon hearing this.

“W-Why are you asking that, Tsukky? Don’t tell me you’re interested in me? Just so you know, I’m not interested in women!”

“I’m not either, dammit! And it’s nothing like that! Just answer the damn question!”

With this reply, Sacchan then fell silent for a few seconds before she had finally replied. “There are some problems in the Oniwabanshuu,” she replied, sighing to herself. “Well, unlike the Hyakka, we aren’t actually united but now… it seems that it has gotten worse..”

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked…”

Sacchan was about to give her reply until a piece of kunai had suddenly made its way towards the two. Surprised by this, the two kunoichi had let loose a barrage of kunais, only to find no attacker behind them.

Tsukuyo bit her lip. “W-What the hell was that?”

Much to her surprise, Sacchan had jumped to the other side and ran away from her.

“Sarutobi! Just where the hell are you going? Oiiiiiii!”

Hearing this made her stop halfway. She then looked back at Tsukuyo with a serious expression on her face.

“Tsukky, we need to separate for a while now, okay? I still have some businesses to take care of. But I’ll catch up with you! We’ll find the two of them for sure!”

Before Tsukuyo can even say anything, Sacchan was already gone, leaving the Shinigami Tayuu on her own.

XOXOXOX

Footsteps can only be heard on the ground as two people and one unidentifiable creature had made their way across the hall, finding their way out.

“Oh, so the place where we’ve been in is a storage room, yes? No wonder it smells like powder in there.”

“Powder?”

“Yeah. Gunpowder.”

Upon hearing this remark, Shinpachi cannot help but to stop on his tracks and stare at the Yato beside him. “J-Just what did you say? Gunpowder? Just how did you know that it’s gunpowder?”

“Ah, that’s because I’ve lived in a storage area full of guns and stuff before. Haven’t I told you? It was way before I’ve even met you and Gin-chan. The syndicate that has been using me before kept a lot of those.”

Shinpachi was speechless at this. He didn’t even know what to say.

Now uncomfortable with the topic at hand, Shinpachi tried to divert their attention to something else, until he heard someone’s voice just from the other side of the wall. He then immediately grabbed Kagura close to him and covered her mouth with his hand, as he tried to eavesdrop on the enemy lines.

“Uehara-sama would certainly be pleased! Hell, if he had managed to do that, then the assassination attempt at that flying ship would certainly be possible!”

Assasination attempt? Flying ship? Just what the hell are these guys saying?

“Of course! And I’ve even heard that he was in contact with the other squads from the Harusame, as well as the Kiheitai! Taking over the Bakufu would be a piece of cake once this plan happens!”

Harusame and the Kiheitai? This looks bad. It seems that we’ve gotten ourselves into some dipshit trouble in here… We need to get out of here, fast!

While Shinpachi was lost in thought, Kagura, who was having difficulty in breathing since the former had covered her mouth with his hand, stomped him on the foot, which earned her a yelp from the young samurai. This, in turn, took the Sonjouroushi members’ attention on the other side of the wall and with no other choices left, the three of them ran away as fast as they could.

However, much to their surprise, Elizabeth had stepped on some switch which triggered the floor to separate. Noticing this, Elizabeth pushed the two teenagers to safety, while the former was left on the enemy premises.

“E-ELIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!”

“ELIZABETH-SENPAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIII!”

The two Yorozuya had stretched both of their arms out in order to get Elizabeth into safety, but it was no use. The gap on the floor that separated them from the white creature only became larger, and much to their surprise, a wall had suddenly appeared right in front of the gap, which made it impossible for them to rescue or even see Elizabeth.

Tears already forming at the sides of her eyes, Kagura tried to knock down the wall, but unlike the other wall earlier, this one did not break.

“Eli… Shinpachi, Eli’s in there, we’ve gotta save him! Let’s go back there, I’m worried about Eli!”

Shinpachi knew the truth behind her words. However, he was having qualms on their next course of action. Should they do what she says and go back there to save Eli? Or should they believe in Eli and on what he would probably do at that moment?

He then chose the latter.

“Kagura-chan, let’s go. Let’s believe in Elizabeth-san, I’m sure he’ll be able to handle those guys just fine.” He wiped off Kagura’s tears with his thumb, and helped her stand up. “Let’s find a way outta here. Once we’ve done that, we’ll go back here to save Elizabeth-san, okay?”

The young Yato just nodded, and followed Shinpachi as he ran off towards the next hall. Upon entering the hall, the two Yorozuya were surprised on how beautiful the spectacle is—the place was colorful, and of Chinese origin. There were huge red lanterns everywhere, and there was also a statue of a huge dragon that had its head raised up to the heavens. And on top of that statue, much to her horror, was a person whom she did not want to see ever again.

It was a person whom she knew very well.

It was the person who did so many cruel things to her and to the rest of her family.

It was the person whom she feared of meeting again someday.

She then gulped the huge lump on her throat.

“K-Kamui…!”

**XOXOXOX**

It was now an hour before the start of the state address, and things were getting harder for the Shinsengumi. The roju still hasn’t gone out of his room, and this fact only made their problems worse. How the hell would the event start if the person initiating the event still hasn’t prepared himself?

Hijikata Toushirou, now accompanied by the Captain of the First Division, Okita Sougo, was now getting perplexed by the second as they kept on waiting for the roju to arrive. It has already been thirty minutes since he had sent Yamazaki to check up on him, so why hasn’t he arrived yet?

“Fukuchou! Okita-san! T-This is terrible! Please, listen to me!”

The now-irritated Hijikata glared daggers at Yamazaki. “Just why the hell did you take so long? Where’s the roju?”

Okita Sougo, who now looked closely at Yamazaki, noticed how devastated he was. Curiosity getting the best out of him, he then went closer to them and called out his attention.

“Oi, Yamazaki. Tell me, what happened?”

“That’s what I was about to tell you. Okita-san, Fukuchou…” Yamazaki took a deep breath. “The roju was—”

The two just stared at him, waiting for what he was about to say.

“The roju was.. found dead in his room just this morning…!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waka – Young Master
> 
> Aburanokouji – The name of this place was gotten from the crossing where the “Incident at Aburanokouji” (the incident where Itou Kashitarou was assassinated) happened. However, only the name was used and the place used in this fic is not in any way similar to the historical one.
> 
> The fact that Aburanokouji was only open during holidays was just made up. (Since I’ve only made that place up, after all.) I’ve gotten the idea for that from the Imperial Palace in Japan, which was only open to the public during the Emperor’s birthday or during other special holidays.


	11. Once you enter a room, always remember that there’ll always be someone to welcome you.

When Kagura was four years old, her brother Kamui was still the innocent albeit mischievous child that is typical of many boys his age. In his eyes remained the light that treasured life—a kind of radiance that showed no connection to any kind of bloodlust and violence.

She was close to her brother just as how any siblings would. They would play tag, they would play janken, they would have a childish banter and… that’s that.

She wouldn’t claim that she was close to him as if her life depended on it, though true enough, she was happy in the company of her family. Sure, they are Yatos. But having the blood of the strongest race in the universe does not mean that they cannot be like any other families out there on Earth. And sure, her brother and her Papi aren’t the most affectionate people in the world either. Though for her, she wouldn’t have it any other way. She loved her Papi, her Mami and her aniki all the same.

That is, until something changed a few years later.

 

**XOXOXOX**

“The roju was.. found dead in his room just this morning…!”

Hijikata felt as if all time had stopped as soon as he heard those words from his subordinate. He knew that something about all of these was off, he knew that there’s something different about the roju, and he felt that something would be different about this day. However, he did not expect it to be something like this.

He gritted his teeth in frustration and grabbed the resident Jimi of the Shinsengumi closer by the hem of his clothes.

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?! Do you think I’ll actually fall for such a joke? Don’t mess with me, Yamazaki. This joke ain’t funny anymore.”

“B-But Fukuchou, I’m not lying! It’s really true! You could even confirm it yourself!”

“What did you just say?!”

“Maa, maa, calm down, Hijikata-san,” hushed Sougo, who now tried to calm things down between the two. “Just listen to what he is about to say first. If it’s really true, then we should deal with it. We don’t have any other choices left.”

Seeing his point, Hijikata begrudgingly loosened his hold on Yamazaki and grumbled to himself. “Alright,” he said with a sigh. “I get your point.”

Without wasting any second, Hijikata then took a few steps away from the two of them. The two, on the other hand, just looked at him in silence.

“Where are you going, Hijikata-san?”

The Shinsengumi Vice-Commander only stopped on his tracks. “Ain’t it obvious, you damned sadist? I’m gonna see it with my own two eyes.”

“I see,” replied Sougo. “Then I’ll come with you as well.”

As Sougo walked towards his superior, Hijikata then looked back at the man behind the two of them.

“This is an emergency situation. Regardless of the fact that it is true or not, even a tiny bit of information about this incident would result into chaos. I order that the whole place must be secured, and that all of the information regarding this matter should be kept in private. Any kind of info related to this should not be leaked to the public. Do you understand?”

Just as when Yamazaki was about to give his reply, his two superiors had turned their backs away and ran off towards the building where the roju was staying.

And as they ran, there is one thing that kept on bugging Okita Sougo.

“Hijikata-san, what are we gonna tell Kondou-san about this?” he asked, still running as fast as he could. “It seems as if Kondou-san has warmed up to that old geezer, and if we tell him something like this, then he will..”

He could only scowl at this. “I don’t know, Sougo. I don’t know. It’s just that… he had no other choices left but to accept this.”

 

**XOXOXOX**

When Kagura was six, Kamui had started training with her Papi’s nemesis, the King of the Night, Housen. Since most of the boys his age had started to do such things, she thought that something like this was the norm. However, never did she notice that something had changed within her own brother.

Even though he remained to be as usual on the surface, the truth is that Kamui had become more and more attached to his blood. He rarely went back home, and during the rare times that he did, he would just do that idiotic smile that he always did. Still, even though he acted like what he usually did, Kagura felt that there’s something odd with her brother. Nevertheless, she just shrugged it off and kept it all to herself.

On a night during one of the rare instances that he had stayed at home, Kagura finally realized just how much Kamui had changed.

It was on that incident where her pet beetle, Sadaharu XXX, had been killed by an ugly stray dog. She was crying so much at that time and Kamui just happened to pass by.

“Eh, what’s this?” he asked, that smile still plastered on his face. “What’s the matter?”

Kagura didn’t say anything and only showed him the remains of her pet beetle which now rested on both of her hands.

“Oh… so your pet beetle was killed? No wonder why you’re crying. Let’s see… your pet was killed by…” He then pointed to the dog. “That creature, right?”

The young Yato only nodded in response. Seeing this, Kamui then looked at the dog and inched himself towards it.

He inched himself towards the poor dog… with such bloodthirsty eyes that even the dog felt alarmed and inched itself away from the older Yato.

And this fact did not escape Kagura’s eyes. For the first time ever in her life, she felt scared of her brother. No, it’s not that—was that really her brother? It felt as if somebody else had taken his place, and she couldn’t put her finger on it, but she was worried. She was scared.

She needed to stop him before it’s too late.

“Kamui-nii!” she exclaimed, running towards her brother and grabbing his sleeve. “Don’t worry about that anymore, it’s alright now!”

Kamui just smiled back at her. “Now, now… there’s no need to be alarmed. I’m just gonna teach that dog a lesson. Don’t you wanna punish him for killing your poor pet?”

“It’s alright now! I don’t need something like that anymore! And besides, all of my pets die anyway! You don’t need to do anything anymore!”

But Kamui did not listen to her. He then grabbed the dog singlehandedly on its neck, raised it high in the air and tightened his hold on it that it looked as if it couldn’t even breathe anymore.

“Stop it, Kamui-nii! Stop it! Leave that dog alone already! It’s alright now, I’m all okay, Kamui—”

Much to her horror, Kamui only tightened his hold even more to the point of crushing its neck. And as the dog made sounds of anguish as it got closer and closer to the brink of death, Kagura felt her tears trickle down her cheeks. Her knees went weak which made her fall down to the ground, and yet she could not tear her eyes away as she saw that the dog had lost its life on the hands of her own brother.

And what’s worse… he killed it while he was smiling that usual smile of his.

“W-What did you just do, Kamui-nii?! Why did you kill him? You shouldn’t have done that!”

As if finally hearing Kagura’s voice, he then suddenly loosened his hold on the poor dog, which made it fall to the ground.

“Ara? It seems that I did it too much.” He then smiled at her. “Oh well. It’s just fair, isn’t it? One life is equal to one life. Yeah, that’s probably it.”

Kagura did not utter another word. She was too much disturbed from what she had seen and from then on, she became cautious of him.

 

**XOXOXOX**

Since there are no people outside the grounds, it only made sense that they are inside the building. And this fact was presented to both Gintoki and Katsura as soon as they have managed to infiltrate one of the buildings inside the Aburanokouji estate, since they were greeted by a group of grunt Joui upon their arrival.

And their means of greeting is of course… by attacking them.

“Dammit!” exclaimed Gintoki, who was busy fending off a lot of geezers who attacked him with their swords. “Zura! These are Joui, right? Are these your subordinates? Tell them to stop attacking us, dammit! How dumb are these guys that they even have the balls to attack their leader?”

“And their senpai!” added Katsura, as he blocked the upcoming attack above him by swinging his sword upwards, making his opponent lose control of his sword. The lone katana fell on the ground with a thud, but this fact didn’t make the other Joui falter their attacks on them.

Gintoki kicked the guy who was about to assail his attack on him on the stomach, making the guy crash towards another group of grunt Joui who were about to approach the two. Gritting his teeth in irritation, he then assaulted them with his bokutou, making the four of them smash into the wall from the sheer force of it alone.

“Who the hell are you calling their senpai huh, you damned baldy?!”

“Who the hell are you calling baldy?! I’m not bald! Just look at these long locks of mine!”

Trying his best not to inflict fatal injuries upon the people who kept on attacking them, Katsura only fended off the attacks which were about to hit him, and he planned on being on the defense for the whole duration of the battle. However, hearing that kind of remark from Gintoki only made him pissed off so he had no choice but to relent to his instincts and attack.

“Maybe you’re the one who’s bald since there’s no friggin’ way that someone will have a naturally permed silver hair!”

“What did you just say?! You’re the one who’s bald since you’re the one who’s wearing a wig!”

Amidst all the verbal insults between them, the two Joui veterans fought back-to-back without even looking at each other, a hint of worry not even visible on their faces. They trusted the other to watch their back.

“Zura, is there even an end to this?”

Katsura just smirked at this. “Just be patient, Gintoki. These idiots would run out of energy soon enough.”

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?! These guys are like zombies who kept on reviving themselves back from the dead!”

“Don’t be blind, Gintoki. Take a good look in front of you.”

Doing what he was told, Gintoki scanned the whole area, only to find out that most of them are unconscious and defeated. He stifled a chuckle under his throat.

“Ugh.. I guess there’s an end to this, after all.”

Just as when he was about to heave a huge sigh of relief, a sudden clapping noise was heard throughout the hall, which startled the two samurai. Looking at everywhere in sight, they then scanned the area until they found someone sitting on the railings of the upper floor.

“W-Who are you, bastard?!”

As if he was looking at them in spite, the man with shoulder-length auburn hair smirked at the sight of the two of them. He then stopped clapping his hands.

“Now don’t be so furious at me, Sakata-san. I’m sure you know me, we’ve met each other several times before.”

Hearing this remark, Katsura Kotarou gave his comrade a questioning look. “What did he mean by that, Gintoki? Who exactly is that guy?”

With that question at hand, Gintoki already knew the answer since there’s no way he’ll be able to forget that voice.

And there’s no friggin’ way that he’ll be able to forget that man.

“That guy, Zura... that’s the guy that I’m talking about before.”

Realizing this fact, Katsura did not utter a word and only looked back at the guy in front of them. “So that guy… is the infamous Uehara… Zennosuke..?”

The said man only smiled back at them in response. “So you know me, Katsura Kotarou-san? If that’s so, then it’s an honor for me. You are quite the famous one, after all.”

“Save the sweet talk for later,” replied Katsura. “You’ve got the guts for being like that, even though you’ve got quite a position in the Bakufu.”

“Oh? But that’s a fact. And you’re not the one to talk, since you’ve got quite a position yourself, Katsura-san.” He then looked at Gintoki. “Sakata-san, why are you guys here? You’re trespassing government property, you know.”

“I don’t give a damn about that. And don’t you dare give me that crap, you damn bastard,” replied Gintoki. “You know what I’ve come here for.”

He then pointed his bokutou at Uehara, his eyes reflecting his intent to cut him down if he doesn’t respond.

“Give back Shinpachi and Kagura! I know you’ve got them somewhere in here. If you don’t, then I’ll make you bring them back at all costs!”

The said man could only chuckle at this remark. “Oh, how scary! Look, I’m even shaking in fear!”

“You fuckin’ bastard…!”

“But those people you’re looking for… they’re the kids who are always with you, right? They’re with you all the time, so why are you looking for them here? Maybe they just ran away, all because they’re sick of your presence or something—”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Gintoki had already walked away from them as he headed towards the nearest exit.

“Oi, Gintoki!”

Seeing this, Uehara couldn’t help but to chuckle at the sight presented to him. “Why are you leaving now, Sakata-san? Have you chickened out?”

“Heh, it isn’t anything simple like that at all. I’ve just thought that if you aren’t going to tell me where they are, then it’s all a waste of time. I have no time dealing with morons like you. I’ll go find them myself.”

“Oh? Then if that’s so, if I tell you that they are somewhere in this building, then what will you do? If I tell you that they are in a sealed room and there’s a bomb waiting to explode, what do you think will happen? Well, even if they managed to escape, I’m sure that they’ll be found by my minions or by some other Yato around here somewhere…”

Just hearing the word ‘Yato’ made Gintoki stop on his tracks. He then shot Uehara a piercing glare.

“You bastard… what do you mean by Yato? Are you… You’re in cahoots with the Harusame, aren’t you?!”

“Oh, I wonder about that? What’s your guess?”

Gintoki gritted his teeth in frustration. He had a gut feeling that something like this would happen but… he didn’t actually expect for it to happen.

He became extremely worried as soon as he heard the word ‘Yato’. However, it couldn’t be helped since he had experienced firsthand how fierce and bloodthirsty they are. And if it’s indeed true that the Sonjouroushi is in cahoots with the Harusame then… it’ll be a huge trouble. The only one who comes to his mind that is both a Yato and a member of the Harusame is that man, after all.

If he and Kagura would ever meet… he didn’t even want to think what would happen next.

“Don’t you fucking mess with me!”

Without even a second thought, he ran towards the exit as fast as he could, with Katsura following him shortly thereafter. But before they could even reach the exit, a group of shinobi had appeared right before them, blocking their way out.

“Move out of the way,” growled Gintoki. “I don’t have the time to deal with people like you.”

As soon as he had already got himself into a fighting stance, Katsura had appeared right before him.

“Leave this to me, Gintoki. Go save Leader and the rest. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Zura… you…”

“Hurry up! Go!”

Seeing the resolve in his eyes, Gintoki knew what he had to do. Hence, he gave a small nod in reply and took a deep breath, before looking back at his childhood friend.

“I’ll definitely find them. Just wait and see.”

Katsura just smirked at this. “Be sure to bring back Elizabeth as well.”

“Yeah, I will!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, he then sprinted off as fast as he could.

 

**XOXOXOX**

Ever since that time, Kagura had become wary of her own brother. She maintained her distance to the point of avoiding him all throughout his stay. It seems that it did not bother Kamui at all, which made her dismayed. Still, she continued on doing that until the day when he left again to train.

A few years had passed since then and she had grown into a healthy eight-year old. However, during those years, Kamui did not come back home even once. And just as when the news of him coming back home was known to them, her mother, who was sick at that time, told her to meet Kamui. With this in mind, Kagura went on her way to meet her brother which she had not seen for a long time.

She walked towards the terminal as she usually did, and she expected to see Kamui walking alone by himself with that usual grin on his face. But… what she had seen was something different.

In front of her were her aniki and her Papi, who seemed to be fighting each other in some secluded place which she didn’t recognize. She had seen the two spar with each other a lot of times so she wasn’t supposed to be shocked on what she had seen but… something’s off.

Her brother, Kamui, had that look in his eyes—a look which showed a complete lust for blood that as soon as she saw it, all strength had left her body and she fell on her knees, all speechless at the sight right in front of her.

What they had been doing was no ordinary spar at all. Even if she was a child, she knew how much big of a difference it is.

They were fighting to death. And somehow, her brother was gaining the upper hand and was the one attacking, while her father, on the other hand, was only fending off his attacks. And as Kamui attacked her Papi with his sheer killing intent, he had managed to inflict a serious injury to the older man.

Her Papi’s arm was cut off by no other than his own son. And much to her horror, she realized that even he would snap into a ruthless killer as he started to attack his own son, while the son himself attacked back in glee. And as expected, as soon as Umibouzu had snapped, he gained the upper hand and defeated her brother.

But that’s not all. What she saw was the same pair of eyes that her brother had, and just as he was about to end his own son’s life, she immediately clung to her Papi’s arms, making him stop from his tracks and bringing him back to his senses.

And after that incident, Kagura went back home alone.

 

**XOXOXOX**

“Wait! Stop right there!”

Despite telling the lone kunoichi in front of her to stop, she didn’t even budge and only continued on running away from her. Pissed off at this, Sacchan was left with no other choice but to apprehend the said woman by sneaking right in front of her and disarming her, putting her in a headlock.

“Y-You damn woman!” screeched the shinobi. “Let me go! I have no business with you!”

Much to the woman’s dismay, this only seemed to have the negative effect since Sarutobi Ayame (a.k.a. Sacchan), who was known to be a huge M, decided to play the role of a vicious do-S right at that moment.

“Eeh? So you don’t have any business with me?” She tightened her hold onto her. “But I do recall that you do have some business with me..”

“I don’t! Let go of me, you bitch!”

As if a switch was suddenly flipped, Sacchan had become really pissed right at that moment and she immediately reached out for her kunai and pointed the sharpened edge just a few centimeters away from the woman’s neck.

“If you don’t talk now, then I swear I’ll really slit your neck off so you wouldn’t be able to speak forever.” She then shot her an intense glare with a huge killing intent. “You… you’re a member of the Oniwabanshuu, aren’t you?”

The woman looked shocked upon hearing this. “Y-You… how did you know that?! Don’t tell me… you’re also—”

“I am, that’s why I recognized you instantly. Have you ever heard of the assassin named Sarutobi Ayame?”

“So you are… that high-ranking assassin from the main group. Dammit… you’re…”

“Main group? What do you mean by that? You mean… you’re one of the—”

Much to her surprise, the woman had elbowed Sacchan on her gut, which made her loosen her hold onto her. Using that fact to her advantage, the woman then immediately inched herself away from her and ran away as fast as she could.

Noticing this, Sacchan wasted no second as she chased after her and attacked her with her kunai, but somehow the woman had managed to escape despite the former’s huge advantage.

Sacchan bit her lip. “Dammit… Just what the hell is happening here?!”

 

**XOXOXOX**

Her father, Umibouzu, was considered as the strongest man in the whole universe. Even though he was an alien hunter and was always hopping from one planet to another, he was still able to make some time for his family.

However, on one fateful night where he and his own son had their own death match, his disappearances became even more frequent than before, up to the point where he rarely came back home at all. And since Kamui was still nowhere to be found, only Kagura and her mother were left alone at their place.

Her Mami had been terribly sick as of late and she was bedridden for a few months now, ever since she had heard of the incident about her Papi and Kamui. She had an unknown illness. But even so, she had that bright smile on her face which never lost hope, even if she was faced with the fact that her own husband and child had tried to kill each other and are nowhere to be found since then.

Kagura loved her Mami so much. She was her only oasis at this time of despair, she was the only one who made her strong and sure of which path she would take, and she was the only one who stayed by her side till the end. Hence, she did everything for her Mami and wished that she would be by her side forever.

But even she knew that such a thing is not possible.

Such happiness did not last long since even her beloved mother had left her all alone. She was alone now. She did not have her Mami, she did not have her Papi and she did not have her aniki anymore. They all have left her alone, young and lost at this miserable planet that reeked of blood, mud and rain.

Why did such a thing happen to her? She knew that she was a good kid, and her Mami even said that good kids are rewarded by good things. But even though she was sure that she had been a good kid—why? Is there a problem with her? Is there a problem with everyone around her? Is there a problem with everything around her? Or was she the cause of the problem from the very start?

She didn’t know anything at all.

And on one of the nights where her father came back to visit her while she was thinking to herself under the rain, she finally realized what the real problem was.

 

**XOXOXOX**

Despite the fact that she was all alone now, Tsukuyo still ran around the area in search for the abducted Yorozuya. She also went in search for Sarutobi Ayame, who left her behind as soon as she saw a glimpse of a shinobi earlier that day.

‘That Sarutobi… she sure was acting strange earlier…’

She didn’t want to admit it, but she had a really bad feeling about this. Sarutobi was acting really strange at that time, as if there’s something she’s keeping from all of them. However, she knew that she shouldn’t doubt her, and she knew as well that no matter what it is, she wouldn’t even dare to harm both Shinpachi and Kagura out of her sheer love for Gintoki.

No, she wouldn’t do it because she’s that kind of person. She may be crazy and everything, but she isn’t like that at all. She could see that clearly.

However… what is that nagging feeling on her chest?

She felt as if… something really bad was about to happen.

And much to her surprise, she felt a sudden chill go up her spine as soon as she noticed that an array of kunais was about to hit her. She had managed to dodge it just in time, though her face wasn’t able to escape a single scratch.

She then looked at everywhere in sight, only to find out that a group of shinobi had apprehended her.

However, Tsukuyo remained unfazed and only maintained her stoic look.

 

**XOXOXOX**

For the first time ever in her life, Kagura had realized that she hated herself.

Hating herself would be an understatement. What she really meant was that she despised her own blood, especially the fact that she was indeed a Yato. For her, everything that happened was because of the nature of their race—they are bloodthirsty creatures who are only good at fighting and nothing else. Their bodies were even made like that just for such purpose.

She wanted to live a peaceful life. She wanted to live a new life where she would be able to live peacefully with her friends, with her family, with all the people whom she loved. She wanted to play like an idiot, she wanted to play pranks on people, she wanted to have another Sadaharu who can stay by her side forever, and she wanted to be in the company of people who are huge idiots but with a genuine compassionate heart.

However, such a thing would not happen if she stayed there. If she stayed there, she would end up like the rest of her clansmen—all ruthless and bloodthirsty, only lived in order to fight, and would only fight and fight alone. She did not want that. She did not want to end up getting controlled by her own blood, and thus, she suppressed herself, she suppressed her strength, she did not desire for bloodshed, she did not do anything which would make her lose control of herself.

She wanted to change. Hence, when she heard that the people in a planet called Earth had lived the same kind of life which she had always wished for, she decided to test her luck.

At the young age of fourteen, Kagura arrived on Earth.

Even though she was young, naïve and unaware of almost everything around her, she still managed to live a life like she wanted. She was able to help other people—a feat which she had never done before in her own planet. However, it seemed that she had ended up with a bunch of bad people… yet it only paved the way for her to meet the people whom she would treat as her family later on.

Meeting Sakata Gintoki and Shimura Shinpachi changed her life completely. Through their help, she was able to live the life which she had always been yearning for, and as a Yorozuya, she was able to help other people. She had also met another Sadaharu, which unlike her other Sadaharus, was strong and cute and lovable to boot. She met a lot people, she played a lot, she had a lot of friends, she had a rival, she had a huge and ever-growing family, she was able to find the best food in the whole universe (i.e. sukonbu) and she was able to get back in good terms with her Papi.

She wished for everything to stay the same forever… No, she does intend to make it stay forever and she would do everything in her power for that to happen. The only thing that comes into her way is this: her own Yato blood.

Her being a Yato became a double-edged sword for her—it was advantageous to her since she was able to use her strength to her advantage, and it was disadvantageous to her since it may also be the cause for the destruction of everything that is precious to her. But at any rate, all that she’s got to do was to beat her own self—that is, to beat her own Yato blood from controlling her.

And that is also the reason why she was so disheartened when her own self awakened during the time when Shinpachi was on the brink of death back in Yoshiwara. At that time, she had completely lost herself to her own blood and she was about to become a ruthless killer, if not for the megane’s timely intervention. And because of that, she was totally disappointed with herself.

She wanted to be the one to control her own self. She did not want to be like the rest of her race. She did not want to be like her own brother who was now completely following his true nature as a Yato. She wanted to see her brother and teach him a lesson, or maybe give him a kick or two for being such a complete bastard of a brother. And most of all, she wanted to save him. However, she was also scared. She was scared of meeting him again, for meeting him may result into her being completely under the spell of her own blood. She might lose herself again if she met him. And she did not want that.

However…

 

**XOXOXOX**

“K-Kamui…!”

As soon as he heard someone call his name, the young man named Kamui shot a look towards the person who had called his name… only to whistle in amusement as soon as he realized that the person right in front of him was no other than his own sister.

Unfazed as expected, he then smiled back at her, his eyes closed as usual.

“Are~? Why are you here, Kagura-chan? Are you lost or something?”

Kagura bit her lip. The day which she was extremely dreadful of had finally arrived—her brother was right in front of her, and who knows what would happen next. She can only hope that no matter what it is, she and Shinpachi would be fine.

She still needed to see Gin-chan no matter what, so she should survive.

“Kamui… you…” She gritted her teeth in anxiousness. “You’re the one who captured us, aren’t you?!”

“Huh? Just what are you talking about, my dear sister?” he asked, laughing at her idea. “I wouldn’t resort to such underhanded tactics just to kill my prey. I’d rather attack them head-on than to kidnap them. Don’t lump me with the likes of those guys.”

“You big liar! Then why are you here if you aren’t the one who captured us? There’s no way there could be another person aside from you!”

“I do not know anything about what you’re talking about, Kagura-chan. And as for the fact why I’m here—I myself do not know why, either. Abuto just told me that the samurai called Takasugi Shinsuke dropped us somewhere in a place called Aburanokouji, though honestly I don’t give a damn as to where I am right now.”

Kagura felt her blood boil just by hearing this remark. She was completely pissed off just from the sight of her brother alone and if this kind of thing continued, she would completely lose her cool. She needed to calm down.

But before that, she should give him a strong punch first.

“K-KAMUIIIIIIIIII! YOU DAMN BASTAAAAAAAAAARD!”

As soon as she was about to attack him, Shinpachi had managed to intervene with it, much to Kagura’s dismay. Realizing what he had just done, she then tried her best to break free but to no avail. Shinpachi seemed to be a lot stronger now than he usually is.

“Let go of me, you useless four-eyed megane! I need to teach that bastard a lesson! Let go!”

“Calm down, Kagura-chan!” replied Shinpachi, who was still trying his best to hold her off. “Get a hold of yourself! Don’t fight him! Do you want to lose control of yourself again?!”

As soon as she had heard this, Kagura stopped on her tracks and became speechless. Her hand trembled like crazy, and everything around her seemed to be in a haze.

But much to their surprise, Kamui jumped down from the statue to the ground and walked towards the two of them with a smile in his face. And as Kamui took a step closer, Shinpachi and Kagura took a step backwards out of fear from the older Yato.

“Ara? Why are you inching yourself away from me, Kagura? Don’t you want to be reunited with your baka aniki? Didn’t you just say so earlier that you’ll teach me a lesson?”

Kagura did not say a word. She continued on moving backwards behind Shinpachi, as they tried to move away from Kamui as fast as they could. However, the fastest one that they could manage was only to take a few small steps backwards.

Shinpachi looked behind Kagura in worry. And as he expected, the memory of her losing to her Yato blood was an extremely traumatizing experience for her that she looked so lost and confused right now. He had a nagging feeling on his chest that something bad will happen if Kagura would ever fight her brother—something would happen, maybe even worse than that one with Abuto… and he did not want that to happen again.

He promised Gin-san back then that he would protect Kagura-chan at all costs. And now, with Kagura-chan in such a state, he would be the one to protect her. Even though he knew that he wouldn’t even be able to hurt the enemy right in front of him, he would still protect her with his life. He won’t let her become a monster!

_I will… protect Kagura-chan. I need to do this. We need to get out of here alive. We still have many things we need to do. We still have to patch things up with Gin-san. I will—_

“You… you’re the one with that Samurai-san at Yoshiwara, right?” asked Kamui, who still continued on walking towards the two. “You’re the one who’s always with my sister, right?”

He didn’t know why but Shinpachi suddenly got a chill down his spine. “W-What about it?” he replied. “So what if I am?”

“Well, if you and Kagura are here, then it only means that he’s also here. You know, I’m really looking forward to meeting him again. I wanna see how far he’s gonna be able catch up with me.”

“If you’re talking about Gin-san, then he’s not here. I and Kagura-chan are the only ones here.”

“Is that so? Then that’s regrettable. I really wanted to fight him back then, so I left Yoshiwara alone. I do hope that he grew really strong right now.”

“J-Just what the hell do you want with Gin-san?!

“Eh? Are you deaf or something? I just said that I wanted to fight him.”

“W-Why?! Gin-san didn’t do anything to you. You have no reason to fight him!”

Much to the two teenagers’ surprise, Kamui had appeared just a few inches right in front of them, before inching himself closer towards Shinpachi.

“Why? You’re asking me why? It’s simple—he’s strong. I only fight because I wanna fight people who are strong. I don’t care whether they may be my relatives, people of the same race, my father, my teacher, random Earthlings, and yes… even my own sister.”

Hearing this made Shinpachi even more protective of Kagura. He knew that he wouldn’t stand a chance against the Yato right in front of him but… he would still do it anyway.

“What do you mean by that?!” asked Shinpachi. “You mean you’re gonna fight Kagura-chan?”

“What else would I mean by that? Of course! You see, Abuto told me that she was a pretty good fighter once she gets rid of that annoying chain of hers. She’s been suppressing her Yato blood as of late, right? I just thought that I should wake it up for her.”

Shinpachi gritted his teeth in frustration. He felt even more anxious with each second that passed, and he was extremely worried on what would happen to the two of them. And most of all, he was terrified of the person right in front of them. Just what the hell would happen to them now?

However, he decided that whatever happens, he’ll give it his best shot.

“I… I won’t let you get any more closer to Kagura-chan! As long as I am here, I won’t let you lay a single finger on her!”

Kamui still continued on smiling despite this fact. “Really?” he then asked, amused. “Then if you’re gone, I’ll be free to do anything I want with her, right? I’ll be able to fight her then, right?”

Shinpachi broke out in cold sweat at Kamui’s sudden threat. However, he still remained unfazed, and tried his best to calm down for the sake of achieving his objectives.

Kamui only chuckled at this.

“If that’s so, then I’ll eliminate you right away!”

Everything went blank for a second in Shinpachi’s eyes. He then saw a pair of hands holding off another hand which was about to… pierce itself through his chest.

“W-What..?” he muttered to himself, all confused at the situation right in front of him. “J-Just what the hell happened?”

He then tried to get back to his senses, only to find out that Kagura was the one who protected him from the dangerous hand which was about to end his life a second ago.

“K-Kagura-chan!”

Kagura looked back at him and smiled as she was holding off her brother’s arm from attacking him. “Shinpachi, thanks for your concern but… I’m all okay now. Leave this thing to me.”

“No—wait! I said that I’ll be the one protecting you! Kagura-chan, don’t do this! You don’t have to fight! I don’t want you to be like that again!”

“Don’t worry about something trivial such as that. Time has passed, Shinpachi. I’ve grown out of it.”

“Kagura-chan…”

“That’s why… leave this thing to me. I won’t run away anymore.”

“NO! You shouldn’t—”

Shinpachi knew that Kagura sometimes plays underhandedly. However, never did he expect that she’ll do it even in serious situations since she had hit him hard in the stomach, strong enough to make him cough blood and fall onto the ground, all powerless and weak.

Despite Shinpachi’s complaints, he was unable to do anything since she already walked away from him, with Kamui following her shortly thereafter. And as soon as they were in a safe distance away from him, they then stopped on their tracks and glared at each other.

“Kamui, I’ll fight you if you want, but promise me that you won’t hurt Shinpachi. Is that a deal?”

“I don’t know if I could promise you such a thing, but as long as you are able to amuse me, then I’ll try my hardest not to kill him.”

Kagura only smiled at this. “Just knowing that is plenty enough. Thanks.”

But before Kagura could even ready herself, Kamui had already lunged himself towards her, all ready to attack her from the front using his umbrella. Luckily, even though it was a surprise attack, she had managed dodge it just in time.

“Y-You cheater!” she exclaimed. “I’m not ready yet you still attacked me!”

Kamui just chuckled at this. “There’s no such thing as cheating in a battlefield, my dear sister. You truly are naïve, aren’t you?”

“Shut up! I… I WILL KICK YOUR DAMN ASS, YOU BASTAAAAAARD!”

She then tried to punch him but instead of her fist meeting with his face like she originally intended, it connected with his umbrella and she was sent flying to the ground when Kamui used the distance to his advantage and hit her with it.

Panting for breath, Kagura slowly tried to get up. Spitting off the blood in her mouth, she then brushed it off with her arm and stood up.

“What the hell was that, baka aniki?! Did you grow weaker during these past few months? Don’t tell me you’re going to suppress your Yato instincts as well?”

“Me? Don’t be ridiculous, Kagura-chan. I’m different from you. I don’t reject my blood. And I don’t care about the Yato clan either. All I care about is to fight those people who are strong—that’s all there is to it.”

She could only chuckle at this. Taking a step forward, she then took a big leap and proceeded to kick him. Kamui managed to block it with his umbrella and he tried to give her a payback by making her lose her balance.

“Keh! Don’t you dare think that’s enough to defeat me!” snarled Kagura, as she used his umbrella as a lever in order to somersault in the air, while at the same time making the umbrella her own.

Both feet had clashed against each other in full force, and the two maintained their distance between each other. Now realizing that Kagura had already got his umbrella on her hands, Kamui chuckled in glee.

“Ara, ara.. I didn’t expect you to steal something from your beloved nii-chan now, you know? Taking my weapon away from me is cheating, Kagura-chan.”

“Che! I’m not taking anything away from you! And besides, something such as losing your umbrella isn’t enough of a handicap for a monster like you!”

Kamui smirked at this. “Well, that’s true,” he replied, and took a few steps closer towards her. “And besides, what happened to your own umbrella? Don’t tell me that you’ve disposed of it already? Coming to the battlefield with no weapons whatsoever is plain stupid, even for your standards.”

“What do you mean by that, you bastard?! I didn’t dispose my umbrella! I just don’t have it with me right now! And I don’t even need that umbrella in order for me to win anyway.” She then pointed the umbrella on her hand right at Kamui. “I’ll just defeat you with your own weapon right here.”

“Now that’s such an amusing speech, my dear sister,” he remarked, grinning to himself. “Now I’m all excited on fighting you even more. Now come on, don’t be like that. Use your Yato instincts. Fight me like what you did back when you fought Abuto. I’ve wanted to see that all these time.”

Kagura took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Even though she acted like she’s on par with him, in reality, she knew that she wasn’t even at his level—no, she’s not even at the half of his level. And faced with the fact that she had never relied on her Yato instincts before, how is she going to fight him now? It was plain obvious that Kamui was just holding himself back in order to taunt her. If she doesn’t come up with a good plan right now, she and Shinpachi would be dead meat. And she doesn’t want that.

_If only Gin-chan is here…_

No, she shouldn’t do that. She shouldn’t drag Gin-chan into her mess. The last thing she wanted was for the two of them to meet.

Now, the only thing that she should do is to defeat this guy. But... how?

Should she rely on her Yato instincts? No, she shouldn’t. God knows what will happen if she does that. And she doesn’t want to lose control of herself again. Then what?

In Gin-chan’s mangas, every protagonist in this kind of situation always had that kind of ‘plot-saving’ thing which would ultimately appear in a time of pinch. So if she were to use the plot from those mangas in Jump, then there are a few options for her to use:

1.) Someone would come to her rescue.

2.) A magical item would appear out of nowhere and she would magically get stronger.

3.) She would be able to get access to some hidden and forbidden technique and she would use it in order to defeat her enemy.

4.) She would realize that there is another person inside of her and that person would help her defeat her enemy.

5.) She would come into terms with her ‘true self’ and she would accept it in order to get stronger.

She scowled at such thoughts. Here she was, in a life-death situation and all she can think of are scenarios from clichéd mangas. But if she were to think of it, Choices 1 to 4 seems unlikely to happen. Choice No. 5 is not that too far-fetched but…

“Spacing out isn’t a good thing while you’re in the midst of battle, Kagura-chan.”

And Kagura was sent flying to the wall as soon as Kamui had kicked her in the head with so much force. Shocked at this fact, she then tried to get a hold of herself and get up but her own body did not listen to her. She felt weak.

Damn, is this all I that can manage if I didn’t succumb to my Yato instincts? Is this all that I can do? If this goes on, then even I won’t be able to—

“What’s wrong? Can’t you even get up after that? Just as I’ve thought, you won’t even get strong if you tried to suppress your Yato instincts just like that. You shouldn’t deny your own blood. Fight me more!”

_Dammit. Dammit. Damn it! What should I do? What should I do?!_

And at that opportune moment, Kagura decided that she was left with no other choice but to rely on her Yato instincts. Although… she won’t be like what she was the last time. This time, she would properly harness her Yato instincts and she would gain control of herself. If she truly wanted to become stronger, then she had no choice but to accept herself.

After all, no one would be able to accept who she is if she herself couldn’t even accept her own self.

She then took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. And as soon as she opened her eyes, she felt as if all energy had come back to her body once again.

She then slowly stood up and walked towards her brother.

“Kamui… you bastard…!”

Kamui, who was fighting with his eyes closed most of the time, opened his eyes as he realized that something in Kagura had somehow awakened itself. It may be faint but it’s there—her Yato self has slowly awakened.

“That’s right,” he taunted. “Rely more on your instincts. Rely more on your blood. Never forget the fact that you’re just the same as I am! After all, we share the same blood in our veins!”

“Don’t lump me with the likes of you!” she screamed, grabbing him on the hem of his clothes. “I’m not the same. I only fight because I want to protect all those dear to me. I don’t care about my blood. I’m not like you whose only goal in life is to fight!”

Much to her surprise, the normally calm and composed Kamui broke out in laughter in response to her words.

“You’re saying such amusing things again, Kagura-chan. But…”

Both fists clashed against each other, followed by a swift kick and an uppercut from both parties. And as they fought each other with movements like that of a pro, Shinpachi couldn’t help but be in awe of what he had seen.

_I’ve always known that Kagura-chan is strong, and even though I’ve seen her awaken her Yato instincts before, this one is different. It feels as if… Kagura-chan didn’t lose herself. She’s still there. Kagura-chan is still there!_

He tried to move but he still couldn’t budge. And thus, he had no choice but to stare at the amazing fight right in front of him. Even though he knew that Kamui was extremely strong, he didn’t expect Kagura to be able to handle herself up on par with him.

She was fighting him and there’s even the probability of her beating her own brother. And she didn’t lose control of herself either!

At that time, Shinpachi felt really proud of the young Yato whom he considered as a part of his own family.

And just as when it seemed that Kagura had finally gained the upper hand, he then realized just how wrong he was when the tables had turned upside down.

He knew that the tables had turned upside down… as soon as he saw Kamui curl up his lips into a huge grin.

“KAGURA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAN!”

Kagura, who seemed to be stronger now since she was able to harness her own Yato instincts at will, readied herself for her final attack. Kamui was just lying on the ground, weakened and all. In her rage, she then tried to concentrate all of the strength that she has left into one single punch—and that would probably be the end of it all.

And so she punched him and it connected with his face…

_This settles it! I won! I—_

Much to her disbelief, just as when Kagura was about to stand up and approach Shinpachi, a hand had suddenly grabbed her foot and she was thrown with so much force that she was sent flying against the wall on the other side of the huge hall.

Rage welled up inside Shinpachi as soon as he saw what happened. He tried to move but he was still too weak. He cursed himself for being so useless.

“KAGURA-CHAN! KAGURA-CHAN! KAGURA-CHAAAAAN! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, KAGURA-CHAN! KAGURA-CHAAAAAAAN!”

Despite Shinpachi’s desperate pleas in order for Kagura to wake up, she still didn’t budge and only remained weak and unconscious underneath the pile of rubble that was formed when she collided against the wall.

And Kamui, on the other hand, approached the unconscious girl and held her up on her hair, making her crash against the wall.

“Oi, wake up. We still have to settle our fight, right? Oh wait—it’s already settled. You’re weak. You’re hopeless against me. You’ll never defeat me. And that’s because of the crap that you kept on spouting. Awaken your true self now, Kagura. I don’t want you to do that kind of lame halfhearted stuff again.”

The bespectacled boy was extremely disgusted at the scene before him. That guy was just too cruel… and the fact that he did that kind of thing to his sister only disgusted him even more.

He then looked at Kamui and observed him. Any apparent change in his expression was not visible at all. He still maintained that gleeful expression on his face, which creeped out teenage Yorozuya.

“K-Kagura-chan!” he screamed, and tried to move his body and yet he did not have the strength to do so.

“KAGURA-CHAN!”

He was frustrated. He seriously wanted to stop this fight as he can see that Kagura was in a disadvantage, but he can’t even move. He’s pathetic.

_Dammit! Move! Stupid body, move!_

_MOVE!_

And just as when Kamui had dropped Kagura onto the ground and he saw the ominous look that the former had on his face, Shinpachi felt as if a rush of adrenaline had rushed throughout his body that before he knew it, he was already in front of the young girl, shielding her with his body.

“Ara, so you can move already? That’s regrettable. You know, you could have just stayed there motionless a little longer. That way, I might have spared your life,” said Kamui as he inched himself closer towards the two teenagers. “Well, since you’re weak I’m gonna give you one last chance. Move out of the way—or else I’ll be the one to kill you.”

“I won’t. I won’t let you hurt Kagura-chan any longer! I will not move out of the way! I’ll protect her at all costs! I won’t move a single step out of here!”

As if hearing Shinpachi’s voice made her regain consciousness, Kagura tried to move but she was unable to do so. She then tried to reach out her hand against his back.

“S-Shinpachi… you… y-you don’t have to do this anymore… Run away… Just leave me alone in here… I’ll be fine…”

“There’s no way you would be fine just like that! No matter what you say Kagura-chan, I’ll never leave you behind! And I’m sure that if Gin-san was here, then he’ll do the same thing as well!”

“B-But—”

“Just shut up! We’re the Yorozuya, aren’t we? Without you then there won’t even be a Yorozuya! Yorozuya Gin-chan is the three of us: you, me and Gin-san. Sadaharu’s a part of it as well. We’re family—that’s why I’ll never leave you behind!”

“S-Shinpachi…”

Kamui only chuckled at this. “Family? But what about me? I’m her real family.”

“SHUT UP! A TRUE FAMILY WOULDN’T EVEN DARE TO HURT—”

Much to his surprise, he wasn’t even able to finish what he was saying as he felt as if he had been stabbed by something on the stomach—wait, was it on his chest? He didn’t even know anymore. All that he knew was that he felt droggy, and he then noticed that Kamui’s hand was just right in front of him… and it was covered in blood…

Was that… his _blood?_

…So he was _stabbed?_

_No friggin’ way…_

“K-Kagura… chan…”

And he fell to the ground with a thud, leaving Kagura who had seen everything with her own eyes in a complete state of shock and disbelief.

“S-Shin..pa..chi..? Shinpachi.. Oi, Shinpachi…”

She fell on her knees, tears streaming through her eyes.

“Shinpachi.. Shinpachi… Shinpachi…”

She shook her head, unable to believe what she had just seen.

“Shinpachi… wake up… Shinpachi!”

She felt weak and cold all of a sudden, and she did not even know what is happening anymore.

“No… Shinpachi… Shin—”

Much to her surprise, a hand found its way onto her neck and she realized that she was now pinned high against the wall.

She was being strangled by her own brother.

“K-Kamui… you… vile monster…”

He only smirked at this. “Your taunts don’t sound like taunts anymore, Kagura. Actually, seeing you in such a state is pathetic. Don’t worry about it though, since something like that won’t kill him. I mean, he’s under the tutelage of that samurai, right? Then I’m sure he’ll grow into a strong person in the future. Killing someone like him would be a waste, isn’t it?”

“Y-You… bastard…”

“Come on, don’t be so hard on your beloved aniki now. Well, maybe if you’ve only listened to me a long time ago then this kind of thing wouldn’t have happened. If you’ve only listened to your own nature as a Yato, if you have only awakened and embraced yourself as a Yato, if you haven’t got that ridiculous belief of not wanting to kill and hurt anyone… then something like this wouldn’t have happened.”

He then tightened his hold on her.

“Something like this… is all your fault, Kagura.”

“N-No…”

“No? Don’t be ridiculous. Just use your damn brain and assess the situation. You said that you’re fighting in order to protect everything and everyone that’s precious to you—but that fact is what makes you weak and vulnerable.”

He raised her higher against the wall and stared at her with piercing eyes.

“Having attachments with someone makes them weak, you know. That’s why as soon as I learned this fact, I’ve cut off all of my attachments with everyone. I don’t regret that I fought that old man of ours back on that day, and I especially don’t regret abandoning you and our mother. Hell, maybe I’m the one to blame for her death—since I was the one who caused all of the problems in our family.”

_No…_

“And now… you’re the one who’s going to take my place. Look, you’re the one causing problems to your surrogate family, right?”

_No, it’s not like that…!_

“And if ever that four-eyes died here, then we all know who’s at fault.”

_NO…!_

“You’re the one who killed him, Kagura.”

_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!_

And at that exact moment, everything in Kagura’s mind went blank. She did not know what it was, but somehow she felt as if…

..She felt as if she wasn’t herself anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Janken – rock-paper-scissors
> 
> Baka aniki – stupid brother
> 
> Gintoki told Zura that he’s wearing a wig since “Zura” can also mean “wig”.


	12. A connection can always be made no matter how far apart you are.

"You're the one who killed him, Kagura."

And at that exact moment, everything in Kagura's mind went blank. She did not know what it was, but somehow she felt as if…

..She felt as if she wasn't herself anymore.

Her blood was boiling. Sweat trickled down her skin as she felt her own blood throb throughout her veins. Her heart was pounding. She felt like she cannot breathe and yet she had no problems with it at all.

And her rationality… was slowly dissipating to oblivion.

Was she… losing herself now?

An unfamiliar sound came out of her mouth. Her lips slowly parted and eventually formed into a huge grin. Her body shook slightly as several unfamiliar sounds came out once again, and this time it turned out to be a chuckle which could send goosebumps to any bystander.

And such a scene brought a smile upon Kamui’s lips.

“Oh? It seems that something really interesting has happened.”

Much to his amusement, Kagura then raised her head to look up at him, which revealed her bloodshot eyes—the very same eyes that undoubtedly carried a lot of killing intent.

Her creepy laughter still ringing in his ears, he then noticed that her mouth had moved a little bit and the words which he is very familiar with came out of it.

“..I’ll kill you.”

She said it in such a twisted manner that is void of any emotion. She said it once, twice, thrice—countless times even, that one could say that it was akin to something like a chant.

He gave a slight chuckle at the sight of this.  
  
She had really… lost herself completely.

For the first time in his entire life, this was the only time where he had felt such an anticipation well up inside him just at the sight of his own sister. He had always regarded her as a pest who was weak in everything, though seeing her like this right now proved him otherwise.

She really was an interesting individual. And he is excited to find out just how much of a fight she would be able to give him. Would she be subpar? Would she be able to fight on the same level as him? Or is the possibility of her being stronger than him even possible? Such thoughts only amused him, and he decided that he would find out about this right now.

But before he can even take action, he then noticed that her hand had grabbed his arm, the very same arm that was strangling her against the wall.

He smiled at this.

“What are you trying to do, Kagura-chan? Do you actually think you can make me remove my hand from your puny neck?”

He expected her to continue on trying to do so, but he was wrong.

A sharp, intense pain had suddenly hit him in the gut. Blood and saliva came out of his mouth as his own body reacted to the strength of such an attack, and he realized that Kagura had given him such a powerful kick that he was sent flying.

Wiping off the dirt and the blood on his mouth, he slowly tried to get up in order to continue their destined battle—but what greeted him was the sight of Kagura appearing right in front of him with that disgusting smirk still plastered on her face.

“Oi, oi, you still have that annoying expression left on you? That’s not good.”

Her right foot was about to hit his face but it connected with his fist instead, making her stop on her tracks in the process. And just as when she was about to land on her knees, Kamui had grabbed her leg.

Pulling her up with one sharp movement, he then swung his arms into the air and threw the young Yato against the wall.

But before she can even hit against it, she used her feet in order to prevent that from happening. Using the force of Kamui’s throw to her advantage, she then kicked the wall and launched herself towards her nemesis as she tried to give him a swift kick on the face once again.

“That kind of thing again? Just how many times would you do that kind of thing before you’re satisfied?”

Despite his nasty comments, the young girl right in front of him didn’t take any heed of it—rather, she cannot, since all rational thought had left out of the window a while ago. Right now, she was just a mindless fighting machine in the form of a little girl with a thirst for blood.

And Kamui can’t be happier with it.

Just as when her foot was just a few inches away before it connected with his skin, he grabbed it the same way he did earlier and lifted her upside down in the air. But before he can even throw her, she let out a loud growl and moved her body with so much force and launched herself towards him.

She had hit his chest with a headbutt so strong that it even turned out to be full-blown body blow. And right before the older Yato had noticed it, they were both sent flying and were about to land themselves hard onto the ground.

But it was only Kagura who had hit the ground. Her brother had managed to jump against the air right before he had landed himself on the rough surface of the floor, and using his distance to his advantage, his foot had landed on Kagura’s stomach.

The strength of such a blow gave her a lot of damage that as soon as his foot had connected with her own body, she coughed blood and let out a soundless scream of agony.

“Oh, what is this? Is this all that you can do? Now, don’t disappoint me. I didn’t do this to you just because I felt like it. I did it because I want to awaken your Yato instincts. I did it in order to fight you. If you’re going to be weak like this, then all my efforts would be in vain, right?”

A reply didn’t come as expected. However, as soon as he took a good look at the “monster” right before him, he then noticed that he was injured on his sides—which meant that Kagura had actually managed to land a decent hit on him.

He chuckled a bit in amusement. “Really, I didn’t expect this. I guess I wasn’t wrong after all. I see now, you are still unrefined—that’s why you aren’t as strong as I expected you to be. But you have potential.”

He then removed his foot from her stomach, and Kagura instinctively reached out to her gut. Still writhing in pain, she then tried to choke back all the blood and other bodily fluids that came out of her mouth.

But just as when her condition was starting to improve, Kamui had stomped his foot against her once again—and this time, it was on her face.

He stepped on her face and grinded it onto the ground, his lips curled into a creepy smile.

“Wake up from your ridiculous fantasies, Kagura. Unleash your true potential. We share the same blood after all, so there’s no friggin’ way that you can be weak as hell.”

**XOXOXOX**

Yamazaki Sagaru was on a rush. It has been an hour ever since the Vice-Commander and Okita-taichou had left him, and he was left with no other choice but to continue his mission.

His mission was to perform espionage on the alleged Jouiroushi who had been staying at Aburanokouji as its caretakers. He had somehow managed to spy on them right before the roju had arrived at the Shinsengumi Headquarters, but with all the issues and the events upon the roju’s arrival, things had been busy for the Shinsengumi that even he had no other choices left but to abandon his mission… or at least be in hiatus.

But now, with the death of the roju being a major problem, it only makes sense for him to see if those Joui were really up to something.

The Jouishishi were still samurai. They won’t do something as underhanded as murder, though with all things considered, they would still be branded as one of the suspects. Personally, he felt as if someone else had orchestrated the roju’s death, but he wasn’t the one to judge.

What he had feared the most though was this: the reaction of the masses. Once this incident reaches the ears of the public—only chaos would ensue. It would be a total disaster, considering on how much well-loved the roju is among the people. He is one of those politicians that appear once in a blue moon—truly loved by the masses, is low profile and yet remains popular, and is down-to-Earth. They could still somehow lessen the impact of the situation if they managed to keep it top secret (though he is sure that Hijikata-san had already forbidden the media from gaining access about the issue) but once information leaks out, there’ll be no escape for them.

They might even experience the second part of the Kansei Purge if that happens.

Heaving a deep sigh, he tried to calm himself to focus on the mission beforehand. Right now, what he should do was to go to the AV Room in order to investigate. There might still be some footage on what actually happened at the roju’s room, which would greatly help them on capturing the perpetrator. Moreover, he heard that there were some people who were taken captive inside the numerous structures in Aburanokouji. If that rumor was actually a fact, then the Shinsengumi would be able to save them.

But before he can even reach for the door of the AV Room, the Shinsengumi First Squad Captain had appeared right before him.

“Where are you going, Zaki? You still have something to do, right?”

Yamazaki stopped on his tracks and only stared at his higher-up. “That’s right, Okita-taichou. That’s why I’m going there.”

“To the AV Room?” he asked, and looked at the door to the said room at the corner of his eye. “Come to think of it, I’m about to go there too. So how about you stay put there or better yet, do something else entirely so you won’t waste your time?”

“W-What?! But Okita-taichou, your presence is much needed for more important matters! Please leave this to me!”

Much to Yamazaki’s surprise, Okita had given him such a cold look that he even felt shivers down his spine.

Experience taught him not to mess with an extremely serious Okita Sougo, and he isn’t going to let that lesson go into waste.

“W-Well, I understand… taichou. Well then, I must get going now, but I have to tell you first that there are rumors about some people being held captive in one of the buildings here in Aburanokouji. I have yet to confirm it true though.”

Okita Sougo turned his back on him and placed his hand on the door knob.

“Yeah, I got it. I’ll be contacting you later.”

And without a moment’s hesitation, Okita opened the door and entered the room. He then locked it from the inside, and went closer to the numerous screens that captured every single room in Aburanokouji via its surveillance cameras. He still didn’t know if he can find something about the incident today here though, but it’s better than nothing. And besides, he had to search for the rumored kidnapping as well.

His eyebrows forming into a scowl, he then scanned each screen one-by-one. What he saw there though was something he didn’t expect.

Right in front of him was no other than that familiar silver mop of permed hair, the hair that obviously belonged to the lazy danna of the Yorozuya, Sakata Gintoki. Even though it wasn’t supposed to be so surprising since the boss was always involving himself to huge trouble, what took the cake was the fact that he was fighting alongside another notorious Joui, the one and only Katsura Kotarou.

Well, it wasn’t supposed to be that surprising at all, considering that they were once comrades in the Joui War—Sakata Gintoki was the legendary “Shiroyasha” and Katsura Kotarou was the so-called “Nobleman of Fury”, the leader of the Nationalist Faction. There were even rumors that danna helped Katsura in that incident with the accursed sword Benizakura, though they still haven’t got any proof of it despite sending Yamazaki out for a stakeout.

But now he has evidence in his hands. Obviously, the most probable course of action is to report it to no other than the Mayora whom he wanted to kill, Hijikata Toushirou.

And so, without wasting any more second, he then reached out for his handheld radio transmitter and contacted the Vice-Commander.

“Hijikata-san, Hijikata-san, this is Okita Sougo. I have a special report for you, over.”

_[Oi, Sougo. What the hell are you doing at such a crucial time? Over.]_

“Hijikata-san, would you please die already? Over.”

_[SOUGO! You bastard! I swear once this is all over I’m gonna kill you—]_

“Hijikata-san.”

_[What?!]_

“You have to go here to the AV Room. I’m going to let you see something really interesting.”

_[Didn’t I tell you I have no time to play your games? Bring that nonsense for some other time!]_

“I’m not playing around, Hijikata-san. Apparently, that Yorozuya no danna is here in Aburanokouji. What’s more, Katsura is also with him.”

_[O-Oi. Are you serious?! It’s about time. Stay put there, Sougo. I’ll be right there! But before that, tell me what they’re currently doing!]_

“They’re currently doing, huh? Well, from what I can put it, they seem to be surrounded by some unknown group… and from the looks of it, they might even be shinobi.. Wow, how come shinobi are here in this place? Everything here surely reeks of mys—”

Right before Okita Sougo can even manage to finish his sentence, his eyes caught sight of that familiar vermillion-haired China girl on one of the screens.

Shock taking the best out of him, he then went closer to the screen, making his walkie-talkie fall out from his hands.

“…China?”

At a glance, it was obviously China. He cannot be mistaken since he knew her all too well—he was her rival after all. However, the one right in front of him was different.

China was a huge idiot, but she is a cheerful idiot who had a lively attitude and a positive yet sarcastic outlook in life. The China in front of him, however, was someone who reeks and seeks of blood, is completely irrational, and is out of control.

If he were to describe her in one word, it would be that she is a… beast.

And yet that ravaging beast was still being held under the mercy of a man with the same hair as hers. And from the looks of it, it can only mean one thing—he was a Yato, since he saw that overly familiar umbrella in his hands, a deadly weapon that can only be owned by no other than the strongest race in the whole universe.

His stomach churned at the sight of that man with long, braided vermillion hair. That man, upon picking up his umbrella on the ground, went back towards China and stomped his foot onto her face—something which he secretly desired to do, since he is a sadist. However, all thoughts of sadism went out of the window as soon as he saw that man beat up the young girl, who was still writhing in pain and was still not back to her own senses. The man then grabbed her by the neck and threw her hard against the ground, the sheer force of it making her even more injured. Blood was everywhere. And if he had to guess it, it was all China’s blood.

And it made his blood boil.

He was a sadist. No one can deny that fact, and he even took pride upon that fact.

However, even sadism has its own standards.

Even a sadist like him has his own standards.

Once it goes out of the line, it cannot be called sadism anymore.

It was no more than brutality. Murder. A killing spree.

And what he’s witnessing right in front of him is no other than downright brutality.

Someone like him who had killed countless people had no right say detest that, since he is no different from him at all. Moreover, he is a sadist. Still, if he kills, he does it painlessly. He does it swiftly and unnoticed, so as to spare them the pain of being cut.

However, that man was different.

Someone who does that kind of thing with a smile on his face is no human. Although.. it is ironic since that guy was obviously an Amanto. And even though China was an Amanto as well, a Yato no less, she was still no match against him.

Even though China had gone batshit insane on him… and yet she still couldn’t touch him.

And so he took a good look at the young man in front of his sworn rival. He somehow looked like China, though his eyes were closed like always and his lips were always curled into a smile that pissed him off completely.

He won’t even be surprised if it turns out that he is her brother, given the monstrosity that the two of them possess. And come to think of it, Umibouzu was one hell of a monster as well. Anyone who was given the title of the strongest space hunter in the whole universe would obviously be a monster, without doubt.

And now that he thought about it, Umibouzu had somehow mentioned a long time ago in his conversation with Kondou-san back when he arrived at Edo 200+ episodes and almost 400+ chapters ago that he had a daughter… as well as a son. And so if he were to infer something from that, then it could only mean that the man who was beating up China right now was no other than…

..Her own biological brother.

And such thoughts only disgusted the hell out of him.

He had always given due importance to the bond between siblings, and even more so after the death of his beloved sister, Mitsuba. Feuds between siblings only disgusted him so much, especially since they can’t even realize just how lucky they were that their own brother or sister was still with them, while he, on the other hand, had done everything for his sister—but to no avail.

And as such, his discovery upon the relationship between the two of them only increased his fury.

He was completely pissed off. Even though he had no qualms on seeing China defeated, he cannot stand to see her like this. He cannot stand to see such a travesty to happen right before his very eyes. He loathed that man, who kept on torturing China like he owned her.

For him, there was only one thing that should stay true until the end.

The only one allowed to defeat her… the only one allowed to torture her… the only one to make her cry in pain… is him.

No other than him.

And he won’t let anyone get in his way.

However, with the way things are right now, how could he even do that?

Pissed off, he then slammed his fist against the controls. And upon doing so, he had somehow heard a voice which seemed to taunt the very person right in front of him. And it seems like.. it was the voice of no other than that psychopathic brother of China.

He smirked to himself. He did not know how he had managed to do it, but he was sure as hell that he had somehow managed to hear everything on that hall.

However, such a fact is insignificant as he was still unable to do anything about it, since he still didn’t know their location.

He can only stare at the screen in silence.

_[Oi, Sougo? Sougo?! Oiiiiii!]_

And the walkie-talkie on the ground was left forgotten, together with the Mayora who was left hanging on the other line.

**XOXOXOX**

Kamui walked closer towards his sister, who still didn’t move after he had thrown her against the wall, with the rubble that resulted from the impact came crashing down on her.

He knew that right at that time, she had already awakened her Yato instincts. However, it still wasn’t enough. And thus, he’d sworn to do everything in his power to awaken the sleeping part of her. He wanted to see for himself just how much of a fighter she can be.

And the way she is right now… it still wasn’t enough.

“Kagura.”

His only umbrella resting on his hands, he then swung it up to the air and threw it towards the younger Yato.

“Take that umbrella and fight me seriously, Kagura. I don’t care if you’re in the right state of mind or not. The only thing I care about… is that you’re strong and I need to fight you. And besides, an umbrella is like a part of a Yato’s body. You just cannot be without it.”

And just as when he was about to stop in his tracks, he felt something hard to hit him in the head.

It was then that he realized that Kagura had appeared right before him, making him lose his balance. She then took this fact to her advantage and aimed the umbrella against his head, and as soon as she had hit him with it, she pierced the same umbrella on his chest, which made him cough blood. But just as Kamui was about to attack, he was taken aback when he saw her face which made her look even more insane… but instead of being creeped out by this, it only made him laugh in glee.

From what he can assess in his situation, it looks like he had broken a lot of bones, especially the ones on his ribs. He had cuts and bruises everywhere, and it looked like he had lost a lot of blood as well. However, Kagura’s condition was a lot worse.

Kagura’s condition… can only be described as battered—nothing more, nothing less. A normal human probably would’ve died already after experiencing such injuries, and even though she was a Yato, it was still fatal as well.

With these facts at hand, Kamui realized just how strong Kagura’s true potential really is. It is possible for her to be on par with him, or even yet, be stronger than him once she had reached her true potential. And such thoughts only added to his excitement.

“You’re strong… you’re strong!” he remarked as he stared down at her with bloodshot eyes. “You really are my sister—you’re strong as hell! I just couldn’t help myself! I wanna kill you! I wanna kill you with my two hands!”

Despite his declaration, Kagura remained motionless, her head hung low.

“Now, come on! Attack me with all you that you have! Let’s continue on killing each other right now!”

Kagura only took a few steps forward as she gave a slight chuckle to herself.

“I wanna see how much you’ve grown… If you still didn’t know, then allow me to discover it by myself!”

And at that exact moment, the two Yatos have launched themselves towards each other with the intent to kill. Kagura was about to hit him with her umbrella, but he managed to block the said attack. Kamui then continued on attacking Kagura, but she had skillfully managed to block all of them one by one. This cycle continued throughout the duration of their fight, until the older Yato had managed to pierce his hand through her chest.

And at that exact same moment, Kagura’s consciousness had returned.

Once she had opened her eyes and realized that all rational thought had returned to her consciousness, the first thing she had ever felt was pain.

She felt horrible. It was absolutely hard to breathe and she can hardly move. Her bones were broken, her stomach hurt, her shoulders were stiff and even her legs can hardly support her. Every inch of her body screamed in pain, and she felt too dizzy from all the blood she’d lost.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she fell on her knees, all the while trying her hardest to ease the pain that she had felt.

Why did it hurt so much? Did all the damage that was done to her earlier are being felt by her all at once right now? What was this, the latent effect?! Is that it?!

She wanted to scream and yet she cannot, since no voice came out of her mouth. All that she can do now was to stare at her brother in fury.

Kamui smiled at her in return. “It seems that you are now back to your senses, Kagura-chan. Welcome back.”

She tried to mask the pain with a tough facade. She didn’t want to appear all weak in front of him, after all.

“..Y-You… You scum!”

“Hey, easy there! Don’t be too hasty, my dearest sister. All we did was to have a decent battle—nothing more, nothing less.”

“Decent battle my ass! How in the world is this kind of thing decent?!”

“It is decent,” he replied. He then inched himself closer to her and tried to stomp his foot on her hands but…

..Her body had immediately reacted right before it connected, and her hand reached out for the umbrella in order to fend off his foot. And upon seeing this, he can only stare at the spectacle before him.

Kamui whistled in amusement. “I told you Kagura, this is indeed a decent battle. Didn’t you see how your body reacted to my attack?”

“N-No… how can this be..?” she trailed off, stuttering. “I… I didn’t even wish to do that kind of thing! My body just moved by itself! W-Why?!”

The older Yato’s smile only became even deeper. He had never heard of such a thing to happen to a member of their clan, but he was witnessing such a moment to happen to his own sister.

And he certainly loved it.

“Amazing… really amazing. Do you wanna test it out?”

Kagura was taken aback by this. “W-What do you mean by that? Don’t you dare—”

Kamui only smiled at her, which sent chills down her spine.

“Well then.. attack me, Kagura.”

Upon hearing these words, Kagura didn’t know if she should take this seriously or not. She wanted to laugh at him, and yet at the same time, she didn’t want to do it. All that she knew is that what he had said was ridiculous since there’s no way she’ll ever attack him by saying that.

However, much to her surprise, her body moved.

She didn’t even try to move an inch away, but her body just moved by itself. She didn’t know what’s happening, and she didn’t know what to do either. She steeled her resolve and tried to make her own body follow her will.

“Stop. Don’t follow him. Don’t listen to him. Stop moving!”

But her own body didn’t listen to her at all. Her body continued on moving towards Kamui.

She then pointed her umbrella towards his head.

“Oh? Is that what you meant by attacking me? You’re gonna shoot me? Well, that’s not very effective against us Yatos. But I suppose that one straight shot in the head would end our lives as well. Very well then. Shoot me—that is, if you can do it.”

Kagura just smirked at this. “Heh. Do you actually think you can make me wimp out of killing you? Killing you is fine with me, you bastard.”

“Really? Then if you did kill me, what is your purpose for staying here then? Didn’t you stay here in order to change? Didn’t you stay here in order to fight against your blood? If you pulled the trigger, then that would make you the same as us… and all of your efforts would be in vain.”

Hearing those words out of her brother’s mouth brought her back to her senses. Indeed, he was right. She stayed on Earth because she wanted to change. She stayed with the Yorozuya because she wanted to change. She wanted to be human. She wanted to become a normal person. She wanted to live in peace.

And if she did kill him here… that would only mean that she had betrayed her own ideals, her own beliefs. That would make her more like the true Yato that she is. That would make her a killer—one that killed her own family member.

Most of all, doing this kind of thing would only mean that she had succumbed to her own blood.

And she did not want that.

Thus, she tried her hardest to make own body follow her will. She tried her hardest to stop herself from pulling the trigger. She tried her hardest to stop herself from killing her bastard of a brother who definitely deserved to get his ass kicked. And even though he had done so many unforgivable things upon their family, she still cannot deny the fact that he was still her brother.

And most of all, she did not want to betray her own ideals and beliefs which had formed her into a person that she was now.

Is this what Gin-chan calls bushido? If she did live by her own accord, would that make her a bushi then? She may not be a samurai, but she sure knows what the real spirit of a true samurai is. After all, she’d been living with them for years now.

However, even though she wanted to stop herself from doing so, her body did not listen to her.

Her body moved by itself and yet she is still shivering in fear.

“No… please… don’t… I don’t wanna do this..”

Her fingers were about to pull the trigger.

“Don’t… no… I can’t accept this! I’d rather die than to succumb to my own blood! I don’t want to kill people!”

She can already feel the surface of the cold trigger on her skin.

_Someone… just anyone is fine.._

_Please… please… stop me…!_

And by the next second, she felt her own finger move, the trigger now being moved slightly for a little bit.

_..Is this… how it ends?_

Gin-chan… Shinpachi… Everyone…

_[What the hell are you doing, China?!]_

At that exact moment, she could’ve sworn she’d heard Okita Sougo’s voice, asking her on what she’s doing. Truth be told, it was surprising on why she would hear his voice inside her head at such a crucial time like this, but she guessed it wasn’t that important.

Maybe he was too much a sadist that he even tried to make her suffer with his ugly voice at the most crucial moments of her life.

“Ara? Kagura-chan, where is that voice coming from? Are you the one he’s been referring to as China?”

Hearing this from Kamui made her stop on her tracks. Wasn’t she just hallucinating? Wasn’t she the only one who had heard his voice inside her head? It seems impossible for Kamui to have ESP, so…

“W-What are you talking about?” she asked. “What voice are you talking about?”

“Now don’t joke with me. I don’t know how he did it, but someone can definitely see us out there somewhere. Maybe it’s thanks to the superb Amanto technology that he was able to see and hear us in this room, don’t you think?”

Now that she had heard more about this from Kamui, she can’t help but to agree with him. But the question here is this: was that really the sadist?

_[Now China, I know that you’re thickheaded, but I didn’t expect you to stoop at such a level. It’s true. What your brother’s saying is entirely true.]_

“You bastard! What kind of stupidity are you trying to pull?! Stop this at once!”

_[Well, just to make it clear though, I’m here not to save you or anything. I’m here to inform you that I have taken you dog captive. If you wanna see him alive, you should be able to get alive out there as well.]_

“W-WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU DAMN SADIST?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KIDNAPPED SADAHARU? SADAHARU’S ALL FINE AND COMFY AT ANEGO’S PLACE!”

_[Awww, you don’t believe me? Well then, listen to this..]_

“WHAT?! OIIIIII, SADIST!”

Much to her surprise, she actually heard the sound of Sadaharu’s bark from somewhere. And the sounds that the poor dog had made… were sounds of anguish and sadness. It’s as if he was begging her to save him from the hands of that bastard sadist.

_[Did you hear that, China? If you don’t make it back here alive, you’ll never see Sadaharu again. Do you understand? But anyway, it’s okay even if you die there, since I’ve heard that dog meat is really tasty…]_

“DON’T MESS WITH ME, YOU FREAKIN’ SADIST! SHOW YOURSELF! I KNOW YOU’RE HIDING OUT THERE SOMEWHERE!”

_[Unfortunately, I can’t show myself to anyone at the moment. I’m quite occupied right now, you see. Ah, I have another great idea… How about we ban sukonbu from being sold here in Edo? Since I’m from the Shinsengumi, I can pretty much turn it into a reality..]_

“TELL ME WHERE THE HELL YOU ARE RIGHT NOW! I SWEAR I’M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS RIGHT HERE AND NOW!”

_[Really? But shouldn’t you thank me instead? I mean, just take a good look at yourself.]_

Upon hearing this, Kagura then wondered on what exactly he is talking about. And thus, she took a glance at herself.

She had regained control of her body once again. That means no one would be able to decide for her own actions, and nothing will stop her from following her own beliefs ever again.

Nothing else can make her happier than this.

Trying to mask the happiness in her voice, she then looked up at the ceiling where she thought he was hiding and scowled.

“S-Shut up! I won’t be thanking you, not even in a million years!”

Kamui just stared at the situation right in front of him, his perpetual smile never leaving his face.

“Now, isn’t this amusing?” he murmured to himself. “I guess five minutes had ended pretty quickly, huh?”

Noticing that Kamui was mumbling to himself, Kagura then turned her attention towards him. “What the hell are you mumbling to yourself, you bastard? I’m still gonna kick your ass, dammit!”

“It’s nothing, really. But never mind that, mind introducing that guy on the other line? It seems that he had such a huge impact on you and that fact alone really amused me.”

“It’s Sougo.”

_[…W-What?]_

“It’s Okita Sougo of the Shinsengumi. If you wanna kill that guy for your own amusement, go ahead.”

Kamui only smiled at this. “I see. That’s amusing. Really amusing.”

“But before anything else, we still have something that we really need to resolve. And I don’t want to prolong this any further. If I’m going to get your ass kicked, then so be it.”

_[What?! Wait, China, stop that—]_

Kagura then gave a small chuckle. “So this is your true motive, huh? Indeed, I do owe you one. And I intend to repay that once I get out of this place. So stay put there, okay?”

_[China! Wait! Oi, China…!]_

Despite the sadist’s attempts to stop her from doing so, Kagura started to walk towards her brother.

“Kamui… it’s time to settle this once and for all. A one-hit match is fine with me. Is this alright?”

“I don’t really care,” he replied mindlessly. “But this means that I’ll get to fight you again, right?”

“That’s right.” She then continued to walk towards him. “We’ll fight each other again… that’s why you should prepare yourself.”

Kamui can only hold himself back from his laughter. “Are you even serious with what you’re saying? You cannot win against me if you’re in such a state. If you wanna settle this with me, you should rely on your Yato instincts once again.”

She can only heave a deep sigh at such a response.

“I’ve said this once, and I’m gonna say this again. I choose my own battlefields… not by my blood, but by my heart! I stand on the battlefield to protect what’s important to me—and no one, even if it may be my own brother, can stop me!”

She then stopped on her tracks and gave him an intense look.

“That’s why no matter what happens, I’ll never let myself get lost again. It was a huge mistake to rely on my blood to begin with. I should’ve never done that. If I win, then I’d win. If I lose, then I’d lose. At least, even if I did, I’d be satisfied.”

She then pointed her umbrella towards him.

“At least, if I did, then I would be able to face them properly without shame.”

And so, without a moment’s hesitation, Kagura took a step forward and sprinted off. But just as when she was about to assail her attack, Kamui had suddenly vanished from her sight—

...Only to appear right beside her, his hand piercing through her body once again.

A lot of blood came out of her mouth as she fell on the ground with a thud. Her whole body was now laid flat against the cold surface of the floor, as her consciousness slowly vanished bit by bit.

And during last moments before she had lost consciousness, she then remembered the faces of the Yorozuya.

Gin-chan… Shinpachi… I… I’ve done the right thing, right? It’s all okay now, right?

She then slowly closed her eyes, her lips now finally curling into a smile.

_[OIIIIIIIIIIII, CHINAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]_

Kamui, now noticing that Kagura had finally lost consciousness, carried her and slumped her over his shoulder. He did the same with Shinpachi. And now, he had two beaten up teenagers now slumped on his shoulders, and from the looks of it, he was still looking for more.

“Okita Sougo… you’re a samurai as well, aren’t you? Well then, I’m looking forward on meeting you soon. And also, don’t worry too much over what happened before. I just used an item that is very popular in Edo nowadays. I’m actually surprised that she doesn’t know about it though.. Oh well, those five minutes are so much fun, anyway.”

_[Y-You bastard… So that thing about her body being controlled by something else was…]_

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s not due to the side effects of her blood or something like that. It was all just a prank by no other than her own brother.”

He then moved his way towards the exit as he carried the two teenagers on his shoulders.

“Now then, that samurai is here as well, right? Let me give him a little surprise.”

**XOXOXOX**

Okita Sougo tried to get a hold of himself. The events of the past few hours seemed so unreal, that he even pinched himself just to confirm that he wasn’t dreaming. However, such thoughts had vanished when he realized that it was no mere dream—it was reality.

And as such, the fact that he had seen China all beaten up by no other than her own brother was true as well.

Truth be told, he never expected that he would be able to communicate with them despite his location. He never knew that this room had such kind of controls as well. It was all luck, he guessed—since that lucky button that he pressed somewhere along the controls not only enabled him to receive sounds, but also allowed him to transmit sounds as well.

And he did not think of anything when he was talking with China either. He had just done everything spontaneously—even the Sadaharu impression surprised him as well.

Talking with her brother only made his hatred for him even deeper though. To be honest, he actually thought the same thing as Kagura—that her own body moved against her will all because of her blood. He felt a pang of irritation when he realized that it was all just a prank by Kamui, since he used a popular item in Edo where the user would be able to hypnotize or make the target follow the user’s will for five minutes. He didn’t know what entered that bastard’s mind at that time, but it was certainly cruel.

He had no right to complain though. He was the same after all.

He was just pissed since he had actually used that item before him, that’s all.

He then saw Kamui leave the room with Kagura and Shinpachi slumped on his shoulders.

“You bastard! Where the hell do you think you’re going?! Leave the two of them alone!”

But the Yato did not take heed of it. He just continued on walking towards the exit, until he was completely out of his sight.

This fact only made Sougo more perplexed.

“Dammit… How did it come to this..?”

Without wasting another second, Okita Sougo then dashed off out of the room. He doesn’t have any idea on where to find them, but even so, he still needed to find them. Or at least, let danna know about this. Knowing him, he would surely be able to do something about this.

But just as when he had opened the door outside, he was surprised to see a man standing right in front of him. The man looked like he was in his thirties, and his face and hair were unkempt. He had dead fish eyes that certainly reminded him of another man he knew, and he certainly didn’t look like your average Joe.

Hell, he looked more like a warrior or something. And definitely a warrior it is, since the ones who always carry an umbrella with them can only be a member of that stupid clan.

Okita Sougo then gave him an intense glare. “You… You’re a Yato..”

The man only smirked at him upon hearing this. “Boy, you certainly know your facts,” he said with a smug look in his face. “I guess you had your fair share of Yatos around here in Edo, huh?”

Sougo gave a slight chuckle at that remark. “Indeed, I did. And they’re siblings, in fact.”

He didn’t know what exactly happened but all he knew was that the Yato was now laughing so hard that tears were even welling up on his eyes… and it only pissed him off.

“Why the fuck are you laughing? Is that even funny? Sorry, but I have no time to waste on old farts like you. Unlike you geezers, us youngsters do not have a lot of spare time in our hands. So if you would please excuse me…”

And just as Sougo turned his back on him and was about to take a step away, the Yato immediately attacked him from behind with his umbrella… only for the umbrella’s handle to be split into two.

The Yato, upon seeing this, only chuckled in delight.

“Oh my, you certainly have skills for a mere human. Say kiddo, what’s your name?”

“I don’t have any intentions of revealing my name to old farts who would die by my sword, dumbass.”

“Oh… really?”

“Really.”

“Well then—”

Just as when Sougo was about to ignore him and walk off, he was then surprised to see that the Yato had already appeared himself right before him without even noticing it. The Yato attacked him, but he was able to fend off his attack. However, it was all for naught.

The Yato had already pierced his hand onto his gut.

“You’ve got some manners there, kiddo. But oh well. You should at least know the name of the man who defeated you. And oh, don’t get me wrong though. I have nothing against you… it’s just that I have to follow orders. I don’t want my captain to chop off my head, after all.”

He then turned his back on him and took a step forward.

“The name’s… Abuto.”

**XOXOXOX**

Footsteps can only be heard across the empty hall as Sarutobi Ayame continued to search for her companion whom she got separated with a while ago. She was just with her earlier that day but due to an unexpected guest, she had to part ways with her.

“Dammit, where did that Tsukky go? I told her to stay put in here!”

She heaved a deep sigh. Knowing her, she probably had gone off somewhere in order to find Kagura and Shinpachi by herself. But she had no reasons to complain though, since if she was in a similar position as her, she probably would’ve done the same thing as well.

There’s one thing that kept on nagging her though.

The kunoichi that she had met earlier was one of the Oniwabanshuu. And even though it had been a long time since they were disbanded, she still didn’t know the reason why that girl from earlier had said that kind of thing. Just what the hell did she mean by main group? Does that mean that there is a subgroup or something?

Knowing that thinking about things like this by herself wouldn’t do her any good, she decided to call someone who should definitely shoulder the whole problem by himself—the grandson of the leader of the Oniwabanshuu, Zenzou Hattori.

Reaching for her phone from her clothes, she then flipped it open, only to squeal in glee as soon as the sight of Sakata Gintoki’s topless and boxers-only form greeted her lustful eyes.

“Aaaaah, my dear Gin-san.. Why are you so perfect? My eyes can definitely have a feast on you all day~”

Blushing furiously, she then cupped her cheek and wiggled in delight.

“GIN-SAAAAAAAAAAN! JUST STARING AT YOUR SEXY PHYSIQUE GETS ME ALL **** AND ****! I WANNA **** YOU AND **** YOU RIGHT NOW! AND OF COURSE, ALL I WANTED YOU TO DO IS TO PUNISH ME!”

Looking at her own cellphone in the same way as she looked at Gintoki, she pointed out her index finger on his chest area and started to trace small circles on it.

“Ah, Gin-san~ You know, whenever I touch you I can definitely feel the hard contours of your muscular chest.. And then I get **** since I can even smell your ***** and your **** and whenever I imagine your ***** I just can’t help but to—”

She then raised her cellphone up in the air.

“..I JUST CAN’T HELP BUT TO GET TURNED ON! OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH GIIIINNNNNN-SAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN~! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

_[SHUT UP! YOU’RE DAMN NOISY! What the hell do you want from me, calling at this hour?!]_

Hearing that familiar voice brought her back to her senses… and it definitely pissed her off.

She then looked closely at her phone and realized that she had accidentally called Hattori Zenzou while she was in her own world full of Gin-san.

“What the fuck do you want?! Don’t disturb my quality time with Gin-san!”

_[WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CALLED ME, DAMMIT!]_

“I swear I’m gonna put candles on your hemorrhoids, you damn punk,” she mumbled to herself. She then took a deep breath, and all seriousness had returned to her demeanor.

“But anyway, listen to me. I have some pretty disturbing news.”

**XOXOXOX**

Upon seeing the group of assassins that is composed of both men and women, Tsukuyo can only sigh in exasperation and go into her fighting stance.

She then scanned the area. There was about twenty of them right there… and she was alone. However, she was unfazed. And as soon as the other shinobi had attacked her, she managed to dodge all of it while attacking back.

Kunais flew in the air with such speed and accuracy, which hit the kunais that were thrown by the enemies. However, she wasn’t that lucky since a stray kunai had managed to hit her on her shoulder.

Strengthening her resolve, she then brought out the dagger which was usually hidden at the back of her obi as soon as the enemies had decided to attack her at the same time.

As expected, it wasn’t that easy. Wounds were inflicted upon her skin, but she still somehow managed to gain the upper hand against twenty people. These shinobi who covered their faces with masks tried to injure her but to no avail. And with one swift movement, she then struck her kunai against the Oniwabanshuu who was about to strike her down from behind, but the only damage that this attack had inflicted was to destroy that person’s mask.

However, as soon as she turned around to look at her perpetrator, she then saw someone whom she had never expected.

Tsukuyo couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Y-You’re..”

Seeing that there was no other escape but to reveal herself, the shinobi who had her mask removed greeted her with a smile.

“Hello there, Kashira. Long time no see.”

Sweat trickled down her face as she tried to process what she had just seen. Still, no matter how hard she tried, she still cannot rationalize on why she would find such a person right in front of her, and as an enemy no less.

“Azumi…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bushido – is the Japanese word for the way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry.
> 
> Bushi – a term used to describe a warrior class during Japan’s pre-feudal and feudal periods.


	13. It is only normal for human beings to hide a secret or two.

Tsukuyo took a good look upon the person in front of her, as she was still in disbelief that one of her subordinates just turned her back on her. However, despite the obvious evidence of treachery, she still tried to calm herself down.

The only thing that she could do right at that moment was to stare at her in confusion.

“A-Azumi… just why the hell are you here…?” she asked, trailing off on her words. “W-Why are you—”

“Kashira, why are you so surprised?” she cut her off, taking a step closer. “You shouldn’t be surprised to see me here. After all, I do belong here.”

Tsukuyo did not say a word. She continued on staring at her, waiting for her to explain herself.

Noticing her silence, Azumi took that as a signal to continue. “Well, in other words… I’m from the Oniwabanshuu from the very start. It’s not like I’m really a Hyakka or anything. It’s just that… I needed to infiltrate the Hyakka for my mission.” She chuckled a bit. “Actually, I was quite surprised that no one among you noticed that I wasn’t a courtesan, nor anyone of you doubted or became suspicious of me at all. And I don’t even have a single scar on my face!”

She then looked at Tsukuyo, but the latter still didn’t say anything and only continued on staring at her with unfazed eyes. Seeing that only pissed her off.

And it was then when the Shinigami Dayuu decided to speak up.

“What is your mission then? For what reason did you decide to join the Hyakka?”

Azumi was pissed off by Tsukuyo’s nonchalant attitude. To her, it looked like the fact that she just revealed herself as one of the Oniwabanshuu did not surprise her at all. Sure, she was surprised at first; but as soon as she continued on explaining herself, her expression did not change at all—she still looked at her the same way as she had always done before.

Pissed off at this, Azumi gritted her teeth. “Of course, my mission is no other than—”

“Her mission was no other than to abduct that strong blonde woman from the Hyakka and bring her back to our master.”

Hearing that remark, both Azumi and Tsukuyo looked at the woman who had suddenly barged into their conversation. The woman had a long, chestnut-colored hair that was draped over her shoulders, and she wore clothes which befit that of a ninja. The said woman faced the both of them with a challenging look, until she finally stared down at the Shinigami Courtesan, eyeing her suspiciously.

“So this is the infamous woman whom our master had taken a liking to? Heh… she isn’t that anything special.”

Tsukuyo felt irritated by this. However, she did not let it show as she told herself not to let her guard down. “Who the hell are you?!” she demanded, glaring back at her. “Are you an Oniwabanshuu as well?”

The woman just smirked at this. “Yeah, I am. And you’re the Shinigami Dayuu of Yoshiwara, the leader of the Hyakka, Tsukuyo—am I right?”

“Ayako, stop that. Don’t interfere,” retorted Azumi, who now inched herself towards the other woman. “I’ll be the one to handle this.”

The woman named Ayako just gave a creepy laugh. “Now, now… You better hold your horses, my dearest sister. It’s not like this woman’s going anywhere. After all, we’re the ones who’s gonna abduct her, right?”

_Sister? So that woman named Ayako is her sister?_

Tsukuyo became even wearier by the second. Everything was all in a mess right now, and she didn’t know what to do. First, her subordinate just revealed herself to be an enemy, and by the looks of it there’s something going on within the Oniwabanshuu, which also explained the weird behavior that Sarutobi had shown earlier. Second, this woman named Ayako just said that they were instructed to abduct her and bring her to their master, which brings her to a single conclusion..

By the way things are going right now, it felt like she had found the reason why Shinpachi and Kagura were abducted—it was all because of her.

She felt guilty with this realization. If that was the case, then everything makes sense. Azumi was sent to Yoshiwara and infiltrated the Hyakka in order to get a chance to capture her. Then somehow they were able to manage the perfect timing when she and Gintoki weren’t around in order to kidnap the two Yorozuya. And the kidnapping of both Shinpachi and Kagura was just their attempt in order to hide their real objective: to capture her and bring her alive to their so-called “Master”.

_If that was the case… isn’t this all her fault?_

She gritted her teeth. She should’ve known that she was the cause. She should have stayed at Yoshiwara. She shouldn’t have stayed at the Yorozuya at all. If she didn’t, then this kind of thing wouldn’t have happened. She guessed that the picture of Gintoki’s sensei was just a part of their ploy in order to capture her, but it just seemed off since it’s impossible for them to know such a thing in detail. But still, it doesn’t change the fact that they were somehow involved with the thing that Gintoki was worrying about before, no matter how they managed to do it. Well, if that’s so, then she really shouldn’t have been there at all. But she shouldn’t be at Yoshiwara as well, since if she did then who knows what would happen to her own home. God forbid, but she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Hinowa and Seita. She wouldn’t be able to take that. And she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to the Yorozuya as well… though it is ironic since something like that already happened, and it’s all because of her.

In other words, she was the one who caused Gintoki to suffer.

She was the one who created the rift between the three Yorozuya.

She was the one who caused Shinpachi and Kagura to get kidnapped.

It was all because of her. And for that, she continued to curse herself, telling herself all over again that it was her fault.

**XOXOXOX**

Hijikata Toushirou dashed off towards the Shinsengumi Headquarters once he had heard that Okita Sougo was found beaten up and unconscious just in front of the AV Room. He actually didn’t believe it at first; after all, it was just so hard to believe that the strongest swordsman in the Shinsengumi would be beaten up just like that. However, as much as he did not want to believe it, his feet had already moved on its own and made its way towards the HQ in order to check on the Shinsengumi sadist.

And as soon as he made it through the gate, he then saw Harada.

“Oi, tell me everything that happened,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “S-Sougo… what happened to him?”

Harada just looked at him in silence before giving him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Hijikata-san. Okita-san is alright. He’s still unconscious, but we’ve already got him to the medic. His wounds aren’t that deep either.”

Hijikata made a sigh of relief. “That’s great to hear then. Do you know the one who did that to him?”

The man in front of him only shook his head in denial. With that answer, Hijikata only looked at him in silence and heaved a deep sigh. He then took a piece of cigarette from his pocket and lit it with his mayo lighter.

“I’m gonna check on him first.”

And without wasting another second, Hijikata then made his way to Sougo’s room. As he slid the shoji open, he then puffed out another round of smoke and leaned against the wall, looking at the sadist on the futon.

“Oi, Sougo. Stop lazing around. I know you’re awake, you better get out of there.”

There was no response, which irritated Hijikata even more.

“I know you’re awake so stop sleeping there like an idiot!”

And with those words, Okita Sougo sat up and faced his higher-up with an irritated look. “Just what do you want, Hijikata-san? Don’t you dare disturb my sleep. Can’t you see that I’m injured?”

Hijikata just groaned in response. “Injury my ass! You just want to be freed from your responsibilities! I know that you’re trying to skip everything we need to do here, but this is a national-level kind of problem we’re having! You can’t just sit there doing nothing!”

Much to Hijikata’s surprise, Sougo said nothing at all, not even one of his usual retorts.

“Oi Sougo, just what the hell happened to you? Who did this to you?”

He didn’t say anything at all. And realizing that he had no plans on telling him who the perpetrator was, then it only means that the situation was really serious after all.

“W-Was it the roju’s murderer? Was he the one who did this to you?”

Sougo chuckled at this. “What are you saying, Hijikata-san? It isn’t someone like that.”

“Then who the hell is it?! Just tell me everything, I have the right to know! Just who is it that was able to beat you?! Just what is the reason that you’ve even decided to stick around here pretending to be sick when normally you should’ve gotten out of this place already?!”

Sougo was silent for a bit until he decided to finally say something.

“Hijikata-san, I believe that the problem that we have right now… cannot be solved by our own hands.”

Hijikata was taken aback by this. “J-Just what do you mean by that, Sougo? Why the hell are you saying that?! It’s not like you at all!”

“I’m serious, Hijikata-san. It’s too much for us. I saw it. China and Shinpachi… they were the ones who were kidnapped.”

The Demon Vice-Commander was surprised upon hearing this. However, he quickly decided to accept it as a fact, since it only made sense that something like that was the case, especially if that Yorozuya bastard was around the area.

But even with that realization, Hijikata decided to elaborate on what Sougo was saying. “So you mean… those brats from the Yorozuya were kidnapped? Why? And why the hell were they kidnapped at the same time as the roju was assassinated?”

“Assassinated? So you mean that the roju was really—”

“..Yeah. He’s dead. We’ve failed on our duty.”

Looking at Sougo’s expression, Hijikata can only guess that he must’ve been pissed at their current situation as well. However, by the way he acted, it seems that there must’ve been more to what he had said.

“Sougo, if there’s something you’d still like to say, you better say—”

“There are two Yato in this place.”

Hijikata was speechless upon hearing this. He expected all kinds of things to hear from him, but this one was the one he did not expect at all.

“O-Oi… you’re joking, right? Yato? But isn’t the girl from the Yorozuya a Yato as well? And besides, the Yato are just like any other Amanto. Umibouzu’s a Yato as well. They are civilized people, what’s there to worry about?”

“There is something to worry about,” he retorted. “They are different from them. And from what I can guess, they’re from the Harusame.”

“H-Harusame…? O-Oi, just what the hell are you saying..?”

“We’ve received reports that there is a squad full of Yatos in the Harusame, right? It’s just a hunch but… I think those two are from there. I mean, there’s no way that someone who had such an aura be contented on being an ordinary citizen just like China… They’re like Umibouzu… but somehow different.”

Hijikata tried his hardest to process everything that Sougo had just said. Still, everything was too much for him that he didn’t even know where to start. Problems are just accumulating one by one, and he just didn’t know what to do anymore.

He sighed.

“This… has just become too troublesome.”

**XOXOXOX**

“Just what the hell are you spacing out there for?! Aren’t you going to say anything? We just revealed to you everything! I’ve just betrayed you! Why aren’t you saying anything?!”

Upon hearing this, Tsukuyo only looked at her in silence, which pissed off Azumi even more.

“I admit that I was surprised at what you guys revealed, but I’m not surprised that you turned your back on us,” she then said, chuckling a bit. “You see, I’ve always known that you weren’t a courtesan. I knew that you’ve come to join the Hyakka for some other purpose which I know nothing of, but I didn’t care. I still accepted you wholeheartedly into the Hyakka without asking you anything about your roots.”

Azumi was surprised upon hearing this. She doesn’t know what kind of thing that she’s planning to do, but she must stay focused on her current mission. No matter what happens, she must fulfill it!

However, with those words at hand, she could not help but to ask her one question.

“W-Why?”

Silence then filled the area, until Tsukuyo decided to break it by replying to her question.

She then took a step forward and inched herself closer towards Azumi, reaching her hand out to her. She took a deep breath before looking at her with such conviction on her eyes that even Azumi felt just how serious she was.

“The Hyakka… is open to everyone, not just to people of Yoshiwara. I don’t care on what your past is all about, and I don’t even care on what you are and what you have. As long as you have nowhere else to go, then we’ll take you and give you a home. As long as you’re lost and weary, then we’ll show and lead you the way. As long as you wanna join us, then you’re welcome to do so.”

Azumi was about to say something, but what Tsukuyo had said just made her lose the will to do so.

“The Hyakka is open to everyone who wants to change their lives for the better.”

And with that statement, Azumi had completely lost all the will to fight back. Right at that moment, she felt as if what Tsukuyo had said was all true—she did feel it when she was with them. And somehow, everything made sense now.

Right at that moment, Azumi then noticed that she was hesitant.

“Azumi! Don’t be fooled! Remember the reason why you’ve come to Yoshiwara! Remember what your true mission is!”

With Ayako’s words, Azumi somehow came back to her senses. Realizing that she had just fallen victim to what the Shinigami Dayuu had said, she became even more furious at her, and because of that, she blindly attacked her and asked her for a one-on-one match.

Azumi threw a bunch of kicks and punches as she had continued on attacking her with the intent to kill. However, no matter how strong her attacks are, Tsukuyo would not even dodge them, and did not even fight back at all. She knew that she was strong, and that no matter what she did, she still cannot catch up to her. But still, the fact that she’s doing nothing in retaliation to it disgusted her.

She did not like her from the very start. She was too bright—she may not be as bright as the sun of Yoshiwara, but she certainly had her own radiance that is akin to that of the moon. Truly, her name even befits her image.

Tsukuyo was certainly strong. She was also calm and composed, and she had a kind heart that captivated everyone in the Hyakka. She devoted herself to the job, a feat that every one of them respected greatly. She was held on a pedestal by everyone, and much to her chagrin, even by herself.

At first, she did not care at all. She respected her for being a great person, but somehow as time passed she realized that she could not look at her the same anymore—since she became envious of her.

And yet because of her mission, she had to swallow all her pride and continue on being her subordinate in order to fulfill it.

Yet now, she…

“What the hell are you doing?!” she shouted furiously at her, grabbing her closer to her face. “Why didn’t you even fight back?! You didn’t even dodge anything! What’s wrong with you?! Why are you like that?!”

But Tsukuyo did not say anything. She still looked at her with eyes full of resolve, as if she was telling her that no matter what she does, she cannot make her budge. And that fact only frustrated her greatly.

She gritted her teeth and clenched her trembling hand tightly.

“Are you making fun of me? Are you really looking down on me..?” she trailed off furiously. Her eyes met hers, and she could not hold her emotions any longer. Without a moment’s hesitation, she then raised her hand and slapped her on the face…

..And yet Tsukuyo remained unfazed, and only looked at her the same way as before. She did not even move one bit.

“Y-You…!”

“Azumi, no matter what you say, I will not attack you. I won’t even try to defend myself from your attacks. You can even kill me now, if that’s what you want. However, I’ll stand by this till the very end—I would not bring harm upon you.”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting? I’m not your subordinate anymore! I’ve never been one from the very start! I’m your enemy! So why the hell are you—”

“No matter what you say, it doesn’t change the fact that you are still a Hyakka. I accepted you as one of us. Did you forget what you’ve sworn back then?”

Azumi was taken aback by this. Of course she remembered what she had sworn back then. At the initiation rites, she had sworn that she would live by protecting Yoshiwara, and everything and everyone who’s important to her. She could never forget that. So why is she…?

“You’ve sworn loyalty to the Hyakka. And I, in turn, have sworn something as well. That’s why no matter what happens, I will never attack you. No matter what you say or do, I wouldn’t hurt you. I won’t even lay a finger on you, I promise you that.”

She clenched her teeth in frustration. “W-Why…?”

Tsukuyo smiled back at her.

“..That’s because… I’m your Kashira.”

Tears started to well up on her eyes and she tried her hardest to stop herself from breaking down. She did not know why, but tears had somehow leaked out of her eyes. She did not know why she’s been affected so much by what she had said, and she did not even know why she’s thinking about it either. And truth be told, she did not even know what she should do anymore.

She then looked away and loosened her grip on her.

“I…”

Her whole body trembled. She did not know what kind of emotion she’s feeling right at that moment, but all that she knows was that she’s confused.

“I…”

What should she do now? Rather than that, what is her reason for doing this? With all that happened in the last six months that she had stayed with the Hyakka, all the reasons why she had been in there in the first place had just vanished into thin air. And if that’s so, then why is she even doing this?

“I. . .”

She was born from a poor family with her single mother in the outskirts of Kanazawa. The said place was said to be one of the most beautiful traditional geisha quarters in the whole country, and as one expected, her mother was a geiko. However, back when her mother was pregnant with her, she was exiled and they ended up on some other place in Edo.

Due to an epidemic, her mother died when she was young and she was sold as a slave when they cannot pay for their large debt. The Joui Wars made it a lot harder for her to take, and she was alone without any blood relatives left—but she somehow discovered when she came back to Kanazawa that her father was actually a member of the prestigious Oniwabanshuu.

She had spent years trying to find out where she could look for her father. And when she finally found it, she then learned that the group was disbanded a long time ago and they did not even have the same power and prestige that they had back then. The members of the group remained scattered throughout Edo, and even though it hasn’t fully disbanded yet and still took missions from the Bakufu, they only served as a mere substitute ever since their position was taken by a group called Tendoushuu.

And as soon as she learned about that, she had lost all hope. She had nowhere else to go, she had no family and she didn’t even have any friends. She did not even have anything to eat.

She attempted to end her life a few times, but ended up being unable to do so due to extreme cowardice. And just as when she attempted to do so for the umpteenth time, she found out that she had a half-sister in the Oniwabanshuu named Ayako. And since she’s the only one whom she still could consider as family, she then joined the Oniwabanshuu in hopes of earning the favor of her sole family member.

And yet she failed.

Ayako despised her as soon as she learned that she had an illegitimate sister borne from a lowly geisha. No matter how much she tried, she didn’t accept her. And the said woman even made out of her way to make her life miserable. Not being able to accept this any longer, she then confronted her and asked her what she should do in order to accept her.

At that time, Ayako was one of the main members of the Oniwabanshuu who had started to branch out of the main group. Their group could no longer accept the way things are right now—and especially not now, because ever since Hattori Zenzou became one of the leaders of the group, everything went downhill since all that he does was to laze off and read Jump, and when he doesn’t laze off, he goes to cabarets full of ugly girls as well as to the hospital in order to cure his hemorrhoids.

And thus, her faction started to act out in order to bring them back to their former glory. And even though Azumi did not understand anything at all, she just followed whatever Ayako did in order to gain her favor. At that moment, their faction had formed an alliance with a Joui faction called Sonjouroushi—another anti-terrorist faction that was formed in retaliation to the Amanto invasion.

Azumi thought that the Sonjouroushi was just like any other naive Jouiroushi—blindly pursuing their so-called ideals, relentlessly fighting back in order to gain what they have lost, despite the fact that no matter how hard they tried, they won’t get it back anymore. However, she was gravely mistaken. The Sonjouroushi being a Joui faction was just a facade; the group had other plans for the Bakufu, and they seemed to be uninterested on ousting the Amanto from their influence. And even though she noticed that, even though their group had made a deal with them, she did not even care a bit. She only followed what her sister told her to do, since that is the only thing that she could do.

According to her sister, the Sonjouroushi had proposed that once they have climbed their way up and claimed control over the Bakufu, they will bring back the Oniwabanshuu to its former glory. Ayako seemed to be so obsessive upon that fact, and even though Azumi had noticed it, she did not mind it one bit. She idly stood by at the corner, waiting for whatever her sister had told her to do. For her, as long as she had done something good for her sister, then she would be happy—even if it means that she had to do something against her will.

And such a thing happened six months ago, back when Ayako had asked her to infiltrate the Hyakka. From the looks of it, it seems that the leader of the Sonjouroushi, the Bakufu official named Uehara Zennosuke, had taken an interest upon a blonde woman named Tsukuyo, the leader of the Hyakka. And since she followed whatever her sister had asked her to do, she then did what she was told.

She infiltrated the Hyakka in order to kidnap Tsukuyo and bring her back as she was told. She even orchestrated a bunch of crimes such as engaging in human trafficking and spreading illegal drugs such as opium and the like throughout Yoshiwara just so she could find some excuses to abduct her. However, just as when she was about to succeed during the night of the festival in Yoshiwara, it just so happened that a peculiar samurai named Sakata Gintoki managed to get mixed up with her plans, and thus, it failed.

However, much to her surprise, despite the fact that Tsukuyo had claimed to have abandoned herself as a woman, she quickly noticed that the latter was completely enamored by that lazy samurai. And somehow, Hinowa herself had thought of making Tsukuyo stay at the Yorozuya in a futile attempt to bring the two closer. And even though she did not understand why the whole Hyakka supported that decision as well, it all ended up well for her since it would only make it easier for her to carry on with her plans.

She originally planned to create a situation wherein Tsukuyo could be abducted unnoticed but somehow, it appears that there’s something going on with the Yorozuya which she knew nothing of. And when she found out that Tsukuyo had followed Gintoki to Hagi, she then told her sister about this and Ayako herself had abducted the two other Yorozuya instead as a foil in order to hide the fact that what they really wanted was not the Yorozuya but the woman from the Hyakka. With every one of them having their hands full, they won’t even notice that Tsukuyo had disappeared. It was a perfect plan.

It’s supposed to be that way.

However, if it’s like that, then why is she hesitating like this right now? She had gone through so much in order to make her mission a reality. She cannot afford to betray herself like this!

If her presence is the thing that keeps her from doing what she’s supposed to do, then she would just have to get rid of her, even if it means that she would fail her mission!  
  
Frustration building up inside of her, she then reached out for her kunai and decided to end everything with a final strike.

And Tsukuyo closed her eyes, knowing fully well what would happen to her.

**XOXOXOX**

Gintoki sprinted off as fast as he could so that he would be able to prevent the possible meeting of both Kagura and that psychotic brother of hers, but it seemed to be unlikely as several ninjas had appeared right before him.

“Heh… What a bunch of bastards. Don’t you dare try to piss me off. . .”

And without a moment’s hesitation, he raised his bokutou up in the air and attacked them relentlessly, but much to his surprise, they were able to withstand his attack. Smirking to himself, Gintoki muttered his amusement and continued on attacking them without fail.

“Gintoki! Why are you still here? Didn’t I tell you to run away? Elizabeth and the others are in trouble!”

Noticing that his childhood friend was within the area once again, he then scowled at the sight of him. “Shut up! I don’t wanna hear that from you! You said that you’re going to take care of everything here, but it looks to me that you’ve failed miserably!”

The two of them fought back-to-back, and because of the huge number of shinobi that attacked them, they were being overwhelmed. This only made Gintoki more pissed off.

“You bastards… Where the hell did you come from?! Who the heck are you?!”

None of the shinobi said a word and only continued on attacking them relentlessly. However, one of them—whom he supposed was their leader—told the others to put themselves into a halt, to which they had immediately followed. The said leader then walked towards the two samurai.

“We’ve hailed from the Oniwabanshuu in order to get rid of you, young gentlemen,” he then said. “According to our master, you guys have been much of a nuisance. And as such, we are here to dispose of you.”

Gintoki chuckled a bit. “Oi, oi… I don’t remember being associated with the Oniwabanshuu except for that perverted stalker and that one with the hemorrhoids. And besides, I did not come here to fight with you. I’m here for some other purpose, and you’re in the way.”

“We’re in the way? What makes you say that? Even if you went to fulfill your other purpose, it would all be useless since we’re still going to kill you.”

“Y-You bastards… Didn’t you hear me?! I just said that—”

“Gintoki! Stop that!”

And with that sudden statement from the other samurai, Gintoki then complied and tried to restrain himself from beating up the resident cloud cuckoo lander. “What the fuck do you want, Zura? Why are you stopping me?!”

Katsura heaved a deep sigh. “You’re such a fool, Gintoki. They’re from the Oniwabanshuu. Isn’t it suspicious?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care. I don’t give a damn about them. I’m here for one thing, Zura. And you know that.”

“You better hold your Elizabeths, Gintoki—”

“You mean I better hold my horses, you damn son of a—”

“—Oniwabanshuu like them swore no allegiance to anyone. They are as shrewd as cats; they only stick up with you because you provide them with something, and once you fail to do so, they won’t even think twice about abandoning you. And I know that you know that they are completely different from samurai—they don’t fight for their ideals like we do.”

Gintoki fell silent upon hearing this. And thus, Katsura took that as a signal to continue.

“I’ve heard from someone that they work for a certain fee. In other words, a ninja-for-hire. And since they’re from the Oniwabanshuu, then that must’ve meant that they work with them. But still, to do things for a Jouishishi faction even though they are employed by the government… Just where the heck did they get this whole sum of money? Does this mean that the Sonjouroushi paid an even bigger amount of money than the Bakufu itself?!”

“What do you mean by that, Zura? Just where the hell did they get that huge sum of money?”

“Well, if I were to conclude something from it, then it may be smuggled money, or maybe stolen, we’ll never know. It might also be the citizens’ money, since you know, we’re talking about someone who is in the Bakufu… Or this might as well be Edo’s own money. You see, there is a possibility of treachery among the Bakufu, and I’m sure that you’re quite aware of this already.”

Gintoki chuckled upon hearing this. “What the hell are you talking about, Zura? Of course I’m aware of it. Heck, someone in front us if the living proof of that,” he then said, glaring daggers at Uehara Zennosuke who was still seated on the railings of the upper floor.

He then took a step forward.

“You see Zura, unlike you, I don’t give a damn about what happens to our country. It may even perish, I don’t really care. There’s only one thing that I’ve come here for—and that is to save the ones important to me, and not some damn country.”

Katsura only smiled to himself upon hearing this. “You never change, Gintoki. You never change.”

“Let’s go, Zura. We still need to go look for Shinpachi and Kagura—”

“You’re looking for them? You don’t need to do that anymore, Samurai-san. They’re right here in front of you.”

And as soon as Gintoki heard that familiar voice from somewhere, he then looked around and found someone whom he really dreaded to see.

He gulped the huge lump on his throat.

“You. . you’re. . .”

The man-in-question only smiled at him in return, despite the fact that his whole body was not in a good shape, and there were bruises, blood and cuts everywhere. His presence still screamed of bloody murder, and the thought of fighting him made him anxious.

However, what surprised him the most was the fact that the two persons who meant the world to him, Shinpachi and Kagura, were all beaten up, bloody and unconscious right in front of him. They were carried recklessly by the smiling man in front of him, the two being slumped on his shoulders.

“Oh, it seems that I still haven’t introduced myself properly the last time we met. I’m Kamui. And as you can see, I’m Kagura’s beloved aniki. Isn’t she sweet? She even allowed to get herself all beaten up.”

“W-Who the hell did this to them..?”

Kamui opened his eyes and only smiled creepily at him.

“That would be me, of course.”

And right at that moment, Gintoki had lost all the control that he had left. All pent-up rage had gotten out of his system, and he had completely lost control of himself as his former identity started to resurface.

He had snapped completely.

**XOXOXOX**

Closing her eyes, she waited for the attack which would befall her. However, much to her surprise, such an attack never came. Instead, what greeted her was the face of a woman in tears, as Azumi was unable to continue her attack on her.

Tsukuyo was confused at the sight of this. “O-Oi… Why are you—”

“Shut up. Don’t ask me the same thing as what I’ve been asking myself all these time,” she cut her off, her tears now flowing freely on her cheeks. “I just… don’t know what to believe in anymore. I don’t even… know myself anymore..!”

And as soon as Tsukuyo said that, Azumi loosened her hold on the piece of kunai which was supposed to end the former’s life. She then fell on her knees, as if all energy had left her. Her body shook slightly, as her hand continued to tremble furiously.

“W-What the hell is wrong with me..? Why can’t I—”

Teardrops fell on the ground, and she couldn’t control herself anymore.

“..Why am I like this? I couldn’t even..”

And as soon as she raised her head to look at the woman in front of her, she then realized the truth which she had been running away from all these time.

She didn’t hate Tsukuyo at all. Rather, she idolized her. She was the one whom she desperately wanted to be. Just like her, she wanted to be strong. She wanted to have a goal in life. Her Kashira was an orphan just like her, was sold at a young age just like her, had lived through a lot of hardships just like her—and she was still dazzling even now. The so-called “envy” that she experienced at the latter part of her stay was just her pent-up frustration on herself for being unable to become like her.

All her life, she had spent her days doing things that others have told her to do. She never had her say in things, and she never found a reason to do so. And truth be told, she was really frustrated about this, but because of her extreme cowardice and indecisiveness, she was unable to express her laments about the matter.

Deep inside, she cursed herself for being such a fool. She actually hated her own sister for being such a bitch towards her, for hating her, for her inability to accept her. She actually hated the fact that she was following whatever her sister told her to do, since every one of those was against her will. She actually asked herself so many times why she’s doing all of these, but she tried to convince herself that nothing good will happen if she did the right thing. And lastly, what she hated the most was her own self, because she was such a fool to do these kinds of things without question.

And thus, when she came to the Hyakka, she was completely overwhelmed with all the things that she had seen.

Everyone had their own say at things. Even though they were former courtesans who had no rights at all, they became free when they became a part of the Hyakka. Everyone did what they think is right. Everyone acted through their own definition of justice. And most of all, their leader respected them. They are nothing like the group of Oniwabanshuu which she had been in, who was the complete opposite of them.

Realizing her own blunder, Azumi cried even more. Tsukuyo then sat on her knees and hugged the poor girl, patting her head in comfort. And such an action only made the former even more frustrated about herself.

“Kashira… I’m so sorry. . .” she then started as she continued to cry. “This… This is all my fault. I should’ve never done this..”

Tsukuyo did not say anything and only continued on comforting her.

“The truth is that I never actually cared about the Oniwabanshuu.. No.. I never cared about anything at all! However, it’s now different. I’ve come to love the Hyakka—for me, it’s my home. It’s the place where I belonged to. And to think that I’ve done such things to you. . . I-I’m the worst—”

“Yeah, you are the worst. I expected you to completely cut off your ties with the Hyakka, but you actually sided with the enemy. Are you seriously retarded?!” cut off Ayako, who now took a step forward with an enraged expression.

Tsukuyo just looked at her in silence.

“I don’t know what kind of things you’ve done to poison her mind, but that kid was actually useful before. Now she’s just a piece of trash waiting to be disposed. And here I was thinking of actually being nicer to her for a change once she fulfills her mission… but I guess that’s just my wishful thinking.”

Ayako then faced her with a look of pity.

“I guess… this would be the last time that I’ll see you, Azumi. You’ve seen so many things you shouldn’t have seen. It would be a problem for me if it leaks out, you know. So… I guess I’ll be getting rid of you. Have fun in hell.”

And as soon as she turned her back on them with a snap of a finger, the other shinobi had started to attack them.

It was just a few seconds, and everything seemed to have gone by a flash. However, Ayako could not believe her eyes.

That woman… had singlehandedly defeated all of her subordinates without moving a single inch. Her kunais did all of the work, and they weren’t even able to get closer to them.

She had never seen something like that before. And right at that moment, she felt her knees shake from fear.

“W-Who the hell are you?! You… you can’t possibly be human! I’ve never seen something like this before..!”

Tsukuyo then glared daggers at her as she had let go of her subordinate who was also shocked on what she had seen. She then walked towards the other woman, while the said woman cowered in fear.

She then smirked to herself. “I… am the student of the late Jiraia. Have you ever heard of him before?”

Her look became even more serious, as if she was trying to kill her with her glare alone.

“That man… was also called Tobita Danzou of the Oniwabanshuu.”

Both sisters were surprised upon hearing this. They knew that she was strong and that her skills as a shinobi was exceptional, but they never expected her to have such ties…

“T-Tobita… Danzou?” repeated Ayako, who was still in disbelief. “T-That man of the legend from the early days of Oniwabanshuu..? No… No way…”

But before she can even say anything, she then realized that Tsukuyo was just right in front of her. She was about to deal with the final blow…

…But she stopped as soon as the blade of her kunai was just an inch before her face.

“W-Why…?”

Tsukuyo sighed at this. She then looked at Azumi who now stood behind her. “What do you think..?”

Azumi only looked away, not saying a word.

And Ayako was surprised at this. “A-Azumi! What the hell do you mean by that?! Are you trying to abandon me?! I’ve never abandoned you before, you damn bitch!”

Thus, Tsukuyo was about to assail her attack when Azumi finally said something.

“..Spare her life.”

The Shinigami Courtesan only looked at her as soon as she said this. She loosened her grip on her kunai which made it fall on the ground, and she then walked away. Azumi followed her shortly thereafter, before making a final glance at her sister who was left alone in the area.

Ayako only chuckled at this. “Y-You bastards… You think I’ll just let go of this easily? You’re gravely mistaken…”

And right at that moment, she then threw the same kunai that Tsukuyo had dropped towards the two whose backs were vulnerable at that time. But before it had even hit them, Azumi deflected the kunai with her own, while another one had managed to land on her sister’s shoulder.

“Y-You… Damn you…!” screeched Ayako, who now glared daggers at her younger sister. “How dare you do this to me! After all that I’ve done to you!”

Azumi only glared at her in return. “You’ve never done anything for me. Stop talking as if you actually cared for me! I.. I’ve had enough. Just be glad that I’ve even spared your life—”

“Be glad that you’ve spared my life? You really are retarded. I’m not that positive and I’ll never get myself defeated by you—”

“You should stop talking for a bit. The kunai that I’ve struck you… contains a paralysis potion and it should’ve been taking effect by now.”

She then gave her a heart-wrenching smile.

“..Thank you for everything, onee-chan.”

And with that statement, Azumi and Tsukuyo resumed on walking, until Ayako then screamed for their attention.

“You think I’ll let myself be defeated, Azumi? Don’t you dare think so! I’ll make sure that you’ll be experiencing hell through the days of your life! I’ll make sure that you’ll never live in peace! I’ll even haunt you in your dreams!”

With that last sentence of hers gaining their attention, they then looked at her once again, only to find out that she had already pulled a dagger and pointed it at her chest.

“Ayako! What the hell are you doing?! Stop that!”

She only laughed in return. “Why the hell should I? This way, I’ll be able to torture you even more. If I took my own life right now, then that only means that you’re the reason why I killed myself. In other words, you’re the one who killed me.”

“Are you stupid?! I didn’t spare your life just so you could do this! Stop that nonsense—”

“Once I struck myself with this, the whole Aburanokouji would blow up as well. Master had set bombs and I’m the one who has the trigger. And so once I die, the bombs would also be detonated. Ain’t it a happy ending? Everyone would share the same fate as me. Either way, I’d still die if I went back, since I’ve failed my mission. I’ll be dragging you to hell, Azumi! I’ll blow you and the whole Aburanokouji into smithereens!”

Azumi and Tsukuyo tried to stop her from her plans, but it was too late. She had already struck herself with her own weapon, and explosions have started in every direction.

But after seeing this, Azumi still ran towards her sister despite the fact that the very place that they were in was now crumbling to the ground. And just as when she saw that a falling debris was about to hit Ayako, she then sprinted off as fast as she could..

..But it was too late. Still, she did not accept it. She then walked towards the remains, hoping to find her sister alive and—

“Azumi! Stop that! I understand what you feel, but it’s too late now! For now, the only thing that we could do is to escape!”

“No! I can’t accept this! I’m sure that she’s still alive! That woman is immortal! She can’t possibly end her life like that! She’s a cunning woman who managed to get things done! She can’t possibly do that… No.. It’s impossible!”

“Azumi!”

But still, no matter how hard Tsukuyo had restrained her, Azumi still tried her hardest to break free from her restraint.

“Let go of me, Kashira! I need to save her! She’s my only blood relative! She’s my family! Despite how she treated me, I’m still glad that she’s around and acknowledged my presence! I don’t care if she hated me and didn’t accept me—her presence alone gave me enough reason to live!”

Tears fell down on her cheeks and she desperately reached out her hand to her, despite the fact that it’s impossible with that distance.

“She’s… she’s my sister! She’s my only sister in this whole world! I can’t possibly lose anyone anymore! Please, let go of—”

Much to her surprise, she was unable to say anything more as Tsukuyo had struck her unconscious. She then carried her on her back and escaped.

“Forgive me, Azumi. I failed to protect what’s important to you. But allow me to promise you one thing..”

She clenched her fists tightly.

“I… I’ll never let you die here.”

**XOXOXOX**

“Get your filthy hands off of them. . .”

Kamui only smiled at him. “What? I didn’t hear you, Samurai-san. And besides, aren’t you going to introduce yourself? I’ve heard that it’s just common courtesy to introduce yourself after the other party had introduced himself to you—”

But before he could even say anything else, he then noticed that Gintoki was right in front of him, greeting him with a murderous aura and a menacing glare that sent chills throughout his spine. His expression was full of rage, and he could even feel his intent to cut him down. He was—

“I said… GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF THEM..!”

And Gintoki had struck him with his bokutou, but Kamui had managed to block it with his umbrella. However, he had lost his grip on the two teenagers due to that attack, and the two fell to the ground.

..But luckily, Katsura had managed to catch them in the nick of time. He then looked at Gintoki.

He was completely outraged, that it is even ironic that he didn’t even notice that the two persons whom he wanted to protect fell down from such a high place. Right at that moment, Gintoki was completely taken over by his anger that nothing seemed rational to him, and that the only thing that he’s thinking of right now was to cut down that irritating Yato in front of him.

Gintoki and Kamui were now glaring at each other at the ground, with the latter smirking in glee at the sight of his favorite samurai finally losing himself. He knew that he was strong, but he never expected him to be like this. He’s a really interesting individual.

And thus, as if wanting to find out more about his prey, he taunted him.

“You’re really strong, just like what I’ve expected you to be,” he said, chuckling a bit. “That’s more like it.”

Gintoki did not say a word. The only thing that he did was to thrust his bokutou towards the Yato’s flesh, but the latter was able to parry his attack with his foot. He then proceeded to kick him on the gut, but even though Gintoki was hit hard by it, he didn’t lose his momentum and even used it to his advantage by giving him an underhanded blow.

And at that moment, both of them were blown away by their attacks. Katsura only stared in silence, despite his desire to join the fight. However, he knew that he should not interfere. This is Gintoki’s personal fight. He had no right to stop it.

Panting for air, both fighters then stood up and rushed to give each other another blow. Kamui dodged every thrust that Gintoki had made with his bokutou, and realizing this, the latter growled in frustration. And since he was blind with rage, Kamui used it to his advantage by grabbing his arm and giving him a strong body blow, making him lose his grip on his bokutou.

But much to his surprise, Gintoki then took hold of his bokutou which was thrown into the air and stabbed the Yato on the chest. Blood oozed out of the Yato’s mouth, but his expression seemed to depict otherwise since he just smiled in glee, completely overwhelmed by his bloodlust.

His creepy laughter permeated through his ears.

“This is great… This is really great! I just know that it’s worth it! Fight me more!”

And before Gintoki could even react to it, Kamui had gotten hold of his bokutou just as when the former was about to pull it, and without any hesitation, he crushed the wooden sword in his hands as he pulled it out of his chest.

Despite the loss of his weapon, Gintoki did not falter one bit. He just stood there unfazed, waiting for Kamui to attack him with his umbrella…

And that’s where he had gotten hold of Katsura’s sword.

The Jouishishi leader had thrown it towards the silver-haired samurai, and the latter wasted no time as he unsheathed his friend’s katana and cut the umbrella in half. The sheath still resting on his hands, he then used it in order to hit the Yato on the gut, but his attack was used against him instead.

And the two continued to fight each other. Katsura, who watched the two monsters fight each other to death, only gaped in awe at the sight in front of him. He felt a huge wave of nostalgia wash out through him as he saw that his friend was no longer the same guy that he is now.

His form on the battlefield was that of a demon. And even though he saw him awaken his true form as that of a killer for a few times, it is the first time in a long while that he had seen him act like that. The way he acted right now isn’t the usual him. It isn’t him anymore.

It was that of the Shiroyasha—the White Demon whom enemies and allies alike have feared, the one who had shown his extraordinary prowess in the battlefield. And after how many years, because the two most important persons to him were hurt, he had reverted back to his fearsome self which he completely loathed. And even though Katsura wanted to gain the help of the Shiroyasha for his Joui ideals, he didn’t want his friend to be like this.

“Gintoki!” he shouted, trying to reach his voice out to the Shiroyasha despite the fact that he knew that it was all pointless, that his voice would never reach him.

And it did not reach him at all. The two men continued on exchanging attacks against the other without fail, never stopping and never giving time for the other to rest. The Shiroyasha fought like the wild demon that he is—but even so, the Yato still gained the upper hand. Frustrated, the Shiroyasha then decided to cut him down with a single slash.

His attack had managed to slash Kamui’s shoulder, and as blood oozed out of the cut that he received, the said Yato only chuckled in glee.

But before he was about to say anything in retaliation, Abuto appeared behind him and stopped him on his tracks.

Kamui then glared daggers at his subordinate. “What’s the big idea, Abuto? Can’t you see that I’m having fun here? I’m gonna kill you, you damn bastard—”

“Never mind that, Taichou. We have a huge problem here. If we stay here any longer, we’re gonna get caught up in the explosion. It’s best for us to leave them here—you could fight them anytime.”

And as if proving his point, the ground shook as the explosions have reached the place where they are right at that moment. Seeing that he had no other choices left, Kamui then took a final glance at the Shiroyasha, before giving him a menacing smile that left one message to him—that he will kill him once they meet again.

And Gintoki was even more frustrated at this.

“Y-You bastards! Get back here! We still aren’t finished! You still haven’t paid for what you did to—”

“Gintoki!” shouted Katsura in an attempt to get him back to his senses. However, it had no effect on him, as the Yorozuya still cursed the Yato for what he did. Pissed off, he then slapped him on the face. And much to his delight, it worked.

Gintoki then glared at him for what he did. “What the fuck are you doing, Zura?! That bastard… that bastard’s going to get away! I need to stop him! He still needs to pay for what he did!”

Katsura sighed. It seems that Gintoki had lost himself completely that he was even incapable of rational thought.

“Stop this nonsense, Gintoki. Leader and Shinpachi-kun are alright. They’re still alive. There’s no need to worry now, all that we’ve got to do is to bring them to the nearest hospital, and they’ll be fine—”

Gintoki fell down on his knees, as if all of his strength had left him as soon as he heard about the condition of both Shinpachi and Kagura. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, he then started to chuckle bitterly to himself.

Another explosion started, and the whole structure started to crumble, with the debris of the building slowly falling down on them. And as Katsura helped Gintoki to stand up, the silver-haired samurai then glared at Uehara Zennosuke who never moved away from his earlier position.

Gintoki gritted his teeth. “Just… just what the hell is your motive?!”

The said man only laughed in return. “My, do I even have to tell you? And besides, didn’t you already get what you’ve come here for? My motive isn’t that important anyway… And moreover, I’ve already accomplished it.”

Pissed off at this, Gintoki was about to attack the Bakufu official but the huge pillar that fell between them got in his way. And since the explosion’s becoming even worse by the second, Katsura dragged Gintoki away in order to escape.

Katsura and Gintoki continued on running in order to find an exit, but they were entrapped in flames. With Kagura on Katsura’s back and Shinpachi slumped on Gintoki’s back, they then tried to get their way across the small light that they had seen, but before they even got close to it, a huge debris made its way to them, ready to fall on them by the next second.

The two of them tried their hardest to escape, but to no avail. And before they had lost consciousness, all that Katsura could remember was that he saw a faint silhouette approach them.

A silhouette… of a _large duck_.


	14. Honesty is the best policy.

Feeling groggy and exhausted, Katsura slowly opened his eyes only to find out that he was alone in an unfamiliar place. He blinked a few times, trying to assess the situation at hand.

All that he could remember was that he and Gintoki went to Aburanokouji in order to save Shinpachi and Kagura. And a lot of things happened since then… and the last time that he was conscious was when they were about to escape from the raging fire that engulfed the whole place. And if that’s so, then where the hell is he?

He looked around, only to realize that he was in the hospital. Sighing to himself, he then looked at his bare hands, only for a huge signboard to appear in his view.

_[Glad to see that you’ve woken up, Katsura-san.]_

Seeing that familiar signboard left Katsura speechless. He then looked in front of him as if he was in trance and stared at the duck-like figure that stood before him.

“E-Eli—”

His eyes glistened with tears, his hands shook a bit and his lips quivered. He then reached out to the creature in front of him, welcoming him with open arms. The creature, on the other hand, looked at him with the same fervor.

And if a bystander could see this scene, he or she could’ve sworn that shoujo manga-like bubbles and sparkles have already appeared in the background.

“ELIIIIIIZAAAAAAAAAABEEEEEEEEEEEEETHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

_[KATSUUUUUUUURAAAAAAAAAA-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!]_

And the two hugged each other tightly, with Katsura secretly wiping his snot on Elizabeth’s white covering. And as they both engaged on their tearful reunion, the nurse who was about to check on Katsura was taken aback by this scene, only to feel a bit nauseous on what she had seen. Without a second thought, the nurse then went out of the room in order to go to the toilet. And of course, Katsura and Elizabeth didn’t notice this at all.

“Elizabeth, I was so worried about you! I’m so glad that you’re safe! Tell me, are you the one who saved us from the fire back then? Because I could’ve sworn that I’ve seen your silhouette!”

_[That isn’t me, that’s Monday Elizabeth.]_

“Oh, so you’ve sought help from Monday Elizabeth? You’re such a genius, Elizabeth! So, you and Monday Elizabeth are the only ones who helped us?”

_[Thursday Elizabeth also helped. Also, I had instructed the other Renhou forces to help extinguish the fire.]_

“Elizabeth! You are such a fine man! But wait—aren’t you Thursday Elizabeth? And why Thursday? Isn’t Thursday Elizabeth the regular Elizabeth?”

_[I am the regular Elizabeth from Shounen Jump. Monday and Thursday Elizabeth are Sunrise’s property. It is Thursday since Gintama’:Enchousen is running on Thursdays. And also, it is the old Gintama timeslot before we’ve been kicked out of Golden Time.]_

“I see. That makes a lot of sense, Elizabeth. But still, Thursday Elizabeth would be gone once April starts. Even though there would be reruns on 1:48 AM, that wouldn’t suffice! The anime would end again… last year it’s Gon, and now it’s Aikatsu! Elizabeth, don’t you feel irritated about those stupid shows taking away our slot?”

_[I don’t, since we still have the second movie. Although I’m worried since it’s been called as the ‘Final Act’.]_

Katsura shook his head in denial. “No, you shouldn’t think like that, Elizabeth! The manga’s still ongoing! It might just be the gorilla playing tricks on us again! We still haven’t got enough screentime! I won’t allow Gintama anime to end; the arc between me and Ikumatsu-dono still wasn’t animated yet!”

_[The current Genderbender arc wouldn’t be animated as well.]_

“NO! I WON’T ALLOW THIS! ZURAKO STILL HASN’T APPEARED YET! ISHIDA AKIRA WILL CRY! NOOOOOOOO!”

_[Nah, that man’s AT field is too strong. He won’t be affected by that.]_

“WHAT?! Are you saying that my AT field’s too strong?! Curse you, Tohru Furuya! Just because you’re bitter about Gintoki stealing your role as Joseph Joestar!”

_[It’s not me, it’s Monday Elizabeth! And I don’t care if Sugita Tomokazu plays Joseph Joestar! You’re just embarrassed that you first got a girlfriend at the age of 21!]_

“What?! Where the hell did you learn about that?! Curse you..!”

Much to their surprise, one of the nurses entered the room and shouted at them, telling them to keep their voices down. And they complied.

Katsura harrumphed in order to clear the mood. He then faced Elizabeth with a serious look, a complete contrast to his idiotic aura a while ago.

“Elizabeth, where’s Gintoki? Is he doing okay?”

The duck-like creature blinked a few times before he raised his signboard.

_[He’s fine. He’s in the other room, recuperating with the other kids.]_

 

 

**XOXOXOX**

It has been two days ever since that incident at Aburanokouji occurred. A lot of things happened in there which she has no idea about, and she probably wouldn’t even know about it as long as the persons involved were still unconscious. Worried about what would happen, Shimura Tae can only heave a deep sigh.

She didn’t expect that the simple event of Shinpachi and Kagura being kidnapped would be connected to a huge national event that would probably change their lives forever. The fact that the roju died at the same time as they were kidnapped, and in the same place no less was already suspicious, and the fact that Aburanokouji was burned to the ground a few moments later only added to the weight of the issue. She just hoped that somehow, they wouldn’t get caught up in such a big mess. Reviving their own Kodoukan dojo was work enough.

She was glad, however, that they were all safe. She was extremely worried that they may have been caught up in the fire, but turns out that they were saved by Katsura-san’s pet in the nick of time. She and Kyuubei weren’t caught up in the explosion because they were outside the compound, and both Tsukuyo and Sarutobi somehow managed to get out of the burning compound on their own.

However, the one that she was more worried about is the condition of her brother, Shin-chan, as well as his other co-workers at the Yorozuya, Kagura-chan and Gin-san. It’s already been two days and they were still unconscious. And even though Gin-san woke up earlier than the two, it was obvious that he still wasn’t well.

Engaged deeply in her thoughts, she never noticed someone’s hand touching her shoulder.

“Tae-chan, you should probably go home and take some rest. I’ll be the one to take care of things here.”

She then looked in front of her and found Yagyuu Kyuubei, who looked absolutely worried about her. Upon hearing those words from her best friend, Shimura Tae only smiled back. “No, Kyuu-chan. I’m fine. I’m just a little exhausted, that’s all. But I’ll manage.”

“But Tae-chan, you shouldn’t push yourself too hard! Shinpachi-kun wouldn’t like it if you became sick because of him! Just a little rest is fine—but you really need to rest, Tae-chan!”

Tae looked away at her in silence. “I don’t want to. And besides, what I’ve done was nothing compared to what Gin-san had done. Ever since he woke up, he never left that room even once. He just stayed there with Shin-chan and Kagura-chan, refusing to leave their side even when the doctors were about to treat him. He even stayed wide awake for the whole day, despite being exhausted.”

Kyuubei fell silent upon hearing this. She knew about those things before, but hearing about it from her own best friend made her think about that silver-haired idiot in the other room.

 

 

**XOXOXOX**

It was already late in the afternoon when Tsukuyo decided to enter the hospital room where Gintoki, Kagura and Shinpachi were held. She stood right in front of the door, undecided whether or not she should still enter the premises. Even though she had decided on what she would do once she opens this door, being in there right at that moment really made her already fickle resolve vanish.

However, she still needed to do this. She had decided on it after all. Once she opened that door, she would finally say goodbye to Gintoki and the others. She had decided that long ago—ever since she’d heard that it was all her fault.

For her, everything was her fault. If she had never left them and chased Gintoki off to Hagi, then Shinpachi and Kagura wouldn’t have been kidnapped. If she didn’t stay at the Yorozuya, then this whole fiasco wouldn’t have happened. No—if it weren’t for her and that Uehara Zennosuke’s creepy obsession towards her, then everything wouldn’t be in a mess right now. And even though she had no idea on why that man was after her, she only knew one thing: she’s the one responsible for everything, so she should be the one to fix all these mess.

And so, with that in mind, there’s only one thing that she should do in order to do that: by infiltrating the Sonjouroushi by herself.

She wouldn’t dare ask for someone’s help at this, especially not Gintoki’s. She had already brought them a lot of misfortune; she won’t even dare to add more to their burden. Asking help from the Hyakka isn’t good as well, since involving them would only bring danger upon Yoshiwara. And thus, even though she knew that it’s not a good plan, she had no other choice.

And thus, even though she was reluctant to do so, it’s time for her to part with the Yorozuya.

Taking a deep breath, she then turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

“Ah, Gintoki, I—”

She then stopped when she saw the said samurai slumped on the chair between Shinpachi and Kagura’s beds, sleeping heavily with drool on his mouth. He snored lightly in between his short, silent breaths; he slept so deeply that he didn’t budge even to the loudest of sounds, and despite all of these, there is one thing that took all of her attention.

His hands—those calloused hands of his whose fingers most of the time were stuck on his nose—tightly grasped the hands of the other two. He held onto it as if his life depended on it, and upon seeing this, Tsukuyo couldn’t help but to smile at the spectacle before her. And somehow, seeing that alone made her realize just how much he loved the two of them, even though he rarely showed it. And since she didn’t want to disturb him, she decided not to wake him up.

But she would still say goodbye to them. Even if they aren’t awake, at least, she took the privilege to do so.

She then took a few steps in front of him. But even though she was so close to him, he didn’t even seem to budge. She breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that he was still sleeping soundly.

“Gintoki, Shinpachi, Kagura… thank you for everything. Even though I’ve only stayed there for a couple of weeks, everyday felt like I was a part of the Yorozuya for a long time now. That’s why… I’m really grateful to you guys.”

She then took a deep breath and gave them a heartfelt smile.

“I did plan on saying goodbye to you guys properly, but seeing you guys now changed my mind. Still, even though I said that, I still don’t know what may happen to me after that. But don’t worry, I’ll be sure to come back here. I still have to pay you guys tenfold for what you have done.”

Taking one final glance at the three Yorozuya, she then turned her back and left the room with a faint smile on her face. And just as when she was gone past the door, she then noticed Terada Ayano—rather, Otose-san—looking at her.

The older woman fixated her gaze at the blonde woman. “Are you really going to leave like that without even saying goodbye properly?”

“I did bid farewell,” she replied as she fumbled for her kiseru. “It’s just that… it’ll be a shame to wake them up. And besides, I’d still be coming back, so there’s no need for unnecessary drama.”

Otose did not say anything in reply. However, she did not tear away her gaze from the younger woman, and upon seeing this, the latter only turned her back and went on her way.

But before that, she did not forget to say one thing.

“Tell them… thanks for everything.”

 

 

**XOXOXOX**

Sakata Gintoki was in a pinch. He did not know why, but everything seemed to be in a mess right now. What he felt right now was really devastating that it was even harder than fighting Housen, Jiraia and Kamui combined. No, it’s more than that. It hurts. It hurts so bad. However, he did not want to go out.

He had felt this pain just half an hour ago. Before that, he felt as if someone had come into the room and said something to them, but he was too drowsy at that time that he did not even take heed of it, and assumed that it was just the nurse who was chastising him for not resting on his own bed as usual. Well, that, or maybe the nurse was fed up with him that she had placed laxatives on his food. Really, this isn’t funny at all.

His stomach churned for the 235th time. And for the 236th. Seriously, he had withstood two days without even leaving this room, but he cannot take it any longer. Sure, he needs to look over Shinpachi and Kagura, but his stomach needs to be taken care of too! And thus, once as he had made the resolution to go to the nearest toilet—that one inside the room—in order to make his own bowel movements, his stomach churned again and he held it in pain, making an idiotic face as he tried to squirm on the floor, trying to reach out for the toilet.

Hence, as if the Angel of Bowel Movement had finally smiled upon him, he then entered the room and inched himself towards the stool, but everything turned out to be a fluke as he realized that the toilet was clogged and thus, was out of order.

He turned pale upon this fact.

_‘WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?! WHAT KIND OF HOSPITAL IS THIS?! I can’t believe that they’ve even passed the sanitation test! If I were the one to decide, I’ll fail this hospital immediately!’_

He shook his head in a futile attempt to get rid of unnecessary thoughts.

‘Think, Gintoki! Think! You are in a dire pinch right now! Sure, your enemies might attack those two again while you are in a state of extreme emergency, but this kind of emergency is fatal! Aaaargh, dammit! Isn’t there any painkillers or something?! This is a hospital, there should be some emergency pills or something!’

He tried to look for something that will help him hold his own bowels for a while, but as his feet stomped the floor furiously and his hands touched his own behind, he had a hard time on doing so. But if he didn’t do that, he’ll feel as if his own bowels would explode… and he didn’t want that! Everyone would laugh at him if they learn the fact that he crapped on his pants!

_‘AAAAARRGH FUCK THIS! SCREW THIS! I ain’t that gorilla! I haven’t crapped my pants in my over twenty years of existence, and I will never do that now! Something like this only happens to that gorilla stalker of the Shinsengumi, who had crapped twice during the Yagyuu arc and Ikkoku Keisei arc! But this is the lovely Gin-san, and not the gorilla! I ain’t gonna crap on my pants. No way. No way!’_

He then tried to reach out for the door, but just as when he was a few inches away from it, his stomach churned violently once again and he fell on his knees, holding his stomach in pain.

Sweat trickled down his skin as he smirked on what he realized to be the worst enemy he has ever faced.

_‘You sure are a formidable opponent, Unko-kun. However, you won’t win against me, the Shiroyasha! Even if you’ve made me fall down on my knees this fast, I won’t ever surrender! Even if my face ended up looking like Chris! Even if my nose started to get as big as Jackie’s!’_

Taking a deep breath, he then put all of his concentration into place as he gathered all of his haki, chakra, reiryoku, nen and magoi in order to unleash his one attack which he had never shown anyone before. He never had any techniques when he fought back then, but there was one technique that he had learned behind the scenes from that old man Zangetsu-wannabe during that Touya-ko chapter which was not yet animated. That old man told him to use it during the times when his life was in danger… that legendary attack…

_‘You need to use it! Gintoki!’_

The silver-haired man was startled upon hearing that overly familiar voice. He then looked around, since he knew that only the three of them were inside the room. But he didn’t find anyone. So who the hell is that?!

“Who’s there?!” shouted Gintoki, trying to calm himself at the fact that both his bowels and the intruders have appeared before him at the same time. “Show yourself!”

‘You cannot see me, for I am inside your consciousness. In this moment of desperation, you’ve managed to summon me while you are still conscious. I am Lake Touya, the spirit of your bokutou. Now, unleash the attack and that obstruction will vanish!’

Gintoki rolled his eyes. “I don’t wanna. Someone must think that I’m a freak now, talking to no one but myself.”

_‘What?! Don’t you wanna take down that door in order to go out?! You should use me and use that secret technique that I’ve taught you! You must use that in order to win!’_

“I don’t need your help on winning anything. Rather than that, it won’t be a secret technique anymore if you’ve shared it to me. Just watch. I have a secret technique of my own that I’ve learned back then when the Yorozuya have done a two-year break before we’ve promised to meet on Sabaody Archipelago.”

‘What Sabaody Archipelago?! Isn’t that from another Jump series?!’

“While I was on my way to Sabaody, after winning the Tenkaiichi Budokai, I managed to meet my master at Kyoto and he taught me the final technique to my Battoujutsu.”

_‘Who the hell are you talking about?! And what master? Am I not your master?! Oiiiiii! And what the hell is that Battoujutsu? You aren’t using a katana, it’s a friggin’ bokutou!’_

“Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” It took all of his strength to stand up and get his Touya-ko that was leaning on the other side of the bed. “Here it goes!”

_‘Wait, what the hell are you—’_

Before the spirit of Lake Touya can even say anything else, Gintoki had already moved his bokutou and attacked the poor door.

“Unko-jutsu no Himitsu Ougi: Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki!”

_‘WHAT SECRET TECHNIQUE?! YOU’VE CLEARLY STOLEN THAT FROM ANOTHER JUMP SAMURAI SERIES! AND UNKO JUTSU? YOU REALLY HAVE TO PLACE UNKO THERE?! AND BESIDES, THERE’S NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THAT TECHNIQUE, IT’S JUST YOUR USUAL ATTACK!’_

Gintoki smirked in return. “Heh. Don’t underestimate me, you damn ossan. This technique only works when the users are in a dire pinch. And besides—uggghh!!”

His stomach grumbled again. He fell on his knees (again) and tried to help himself stand up using his bokutou. He then panted heavily and sprinted off, leaving the old man Zangetsu-wannabe alone in the room.

 

 

**XOXOXOX**

“What? Only cola? Oi, oi… is this still even considered as a vending machine if it just sells cola? You gotta have some strawberry milk man, strawberry milk!”

Gintoki grumbled to himself as he got the can of ice-cold cola out of the vending machine. After his business in the toilet, he then proceeded to buy some drinks in some random vending machine before he went back to the room where Shinpachi and Kagura were resting. But just as when he was on his way, he then stopped in front of an open window and leaned against it. He then looked at the sky which was tainted by an orange hue.

“So it’s really late in the afternoon, huh? Well… since I’m already outside anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to stay out for some more. .”

With that thought in mind, he then walked some more. He did not know it himself but... he somehow ended walking up to the roof. Pushing the door open, he then walked a bit more in order to get a breath of fresh air, but all of those ideas vanished as soon as he saw Hijikata Toushirou smoking on the other side.

“Oi, tax robber. Isn’t it prohibited to smoke on hospital grounds? I’ll get you arrested for that, you bastard.”

Hearing that voice, Hijikata turned around only to scowl at what he had seen. “You’re the bastard one, you bastard. I’m at the rooftop, it’s not prohibited in here. And besides, how are you going to arrest me if I’m the police?”

“That’s why the police are being looked down upon,” Gintoki replied with a sigh, much to Hijikata’s ire. “This country would fall not only because of our rotten government officials, but also because of those shameless policemen who are too proud of committing immoral acts.”

“What part of smoking is considered as immoral?! Do you really know the true meaning of ‘immoral’, you bastard?! I’ll really arrest you, you friggin’ piece of shit!”

“Oi, oi.. Are you really sure about that? You’re just going to arrest an innocent man just because you felt like it? You really are rotten to the core, huh?”

“Just what the hell did you say you lazy dumbass sugar freak?!”

“Just what is it to you, you moronic mayo freak?!”

“You got something against mayonnaise, huh?! You got something against it, you bastard?!”

“Sure hell I do! I don’t eat that crap, I only need to satiate my sweet tooth! That disgusting condiment needs to be thrown out, you know. Thrown out!”

“What did you say?!”

“What?!”

And so the two adults glared at each other, both of them having no such intentions of backing down. They gave each other a menacing glare for about a minute, until the both of them decided to finish it with a sigh. Now looking at the orange-colored sky, the two of them stood next to each other in silence.

Gintoki then looked at Hijikata at the corner of his eye. “It seems that I owe the Shinsengumi something. I heard that you guys are the ones who paid for all of our expenses here in the hospital, is that true?”

“Yeah it is,” he replied as he took a puff of smoke from his cigarette. “That’s why you ought to do us a favor and repay us with those services of yours.”

“And why should I? The Yorozuya ain’t that cheap for us to give our services to such tax robbers—”

“Why the hell are you guys there anyway? Didn’t you hear that there’s going to be a huge national event in Aburanokouji at that same time?”

Gintoki was silent upon hearing this. He did not know if he should tell him the truth or not, but he guessed that there’ll be no escape for him anyway. And so, he had told him the truth about what happened—from the fact that he and Tsukuyo went to Hagi, up to the point wherein Shinpachi and Kagura were kidnapped by the Sonjouroushi. He had purposely left out the part about the Oniwabanshuu and that Bakufu official since it would only cause unnecessary trouble. He may tell them, he’ll probably do, but he’ll do that when the right time comes, and not now.

And as Gintoki told him all those things, Hijikata didn’t say a word. He had kept all of his questions to himself, including the fact that he had seen him running with that fugitive Katsura Kotarou at Aburanokouji. However, there’s one thing which he had never failed to ask.

“Everything made sense, but the fact that those two were kidnapped just doesn’t add up. Why were they kidnapped anyway?”

Gintoki was taken aback by this. He had never told him about what happened between the three of them, and he had no intentions of telling him. And thus, he only became silent and waited for his response.

Realizing that the other man had no intentions of speaking up, Hijikata then turned on his back and started to walk away.

“Well, there is always an instance wherein people hurt the ones they love in order to protect them. Isn’t something like that true as well?”

Hijikata stopped on his tracks upon hearing this. He did not understand what the Yorozuya was trying to point out by saying that, but he did get struck by those words. ‘Hurting the ones they love in order to protect them’—those words made him remember of something from the past, something that involved him and Sougo’s older sister, Mitsuba. He shook his head in order to get rid of such thoughts.

He then looked at Gintoki in return. “Just what do you mean by that?”

The silver-haired man only smiled to himself. “Nothing. I’m just talking to myself. And besides, aren’t you guys busy? You should get going now instead of prancing around here, that way us citizens would benefit from the taxes that you guys have been mooching off us.”

“Just so you know, you don’t have a single right to say that. You don’t even pay your taxes.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Taking another piece of cigarette out of his pocket, he had finally left the premises, leaving Gintoki alone in his thoughts as he still stood there on the rooftop by himself.

“So… I’m all alone again, huh?” he trailed off, heaving a deep sigh. He then placed his left arm inside his yukata and stared at the skies, letting his head wander off to somewhere else. He then took a deep breath and tried his hardest to relax himself.

Deciding that it was enough, he then turned back, only to find his dearest ones standing right in front of him. And at such a sight, Gintoki could not help but to feel a little bit lost as he clearly did not expect such a thing to happen.

“Oi, oi… What are you guys doing here, Shinpachi, Kagura? And you’ve even brought Sadaharu with you too. What are you guys thinking, huh?”

None of them said anything. However, this did not stop Gintoki from voicing out what he felt at that time.

“Man, you guys are so damn unfair. I didn’t even leave the hospital room since I want to be beside you guys when you woke up. And now when I finally did, you’re going to wake up? What’s the use of staying there for days then? Man, this is all messed up..”

They still didn’t say anything. Both of them just looked on the ground, their eyes never meeting Gintoki’s.

“Oi Shinpachi… Kagura—”

Much to his surprise, he was unable to continue on what he was saying as soon as he saw the two bow down their heads low in front of him.

“Gin-chan..”

“Gin-san..”

Gintoki was speechless at what he had seen. He then tried to reach out his hand towards them. “Oi… why are you guys acting like that? You shouldn’t—”

“WE’RE SORRY!”

And the both of them said that in unison, with them bowing down their heads in apology. And Gintoki, not knowing what to do, just stared at them without saying anything. And as he looked at them in silence, he then noticed that both of them are trembling furiously.

He was the one who had wronged them, so why the hell are they apologizing now? It’s his fault that they were hurt. They had done nothing at all. So… why?

“Sorry for being weak, for being helpless, for being stubborn. If we’ve only listened to you, Gin-chan… If I was only strong, then you and Shinpachi wouldn’t—”

“No, that’s my line, Kagura-chan. I promised Gin-san that I’ll protect you, but in the end I was just useless. I’m sorry, Gin-san, for breaking our promise. And I’m sorry for being so weak and useless. . .”

Gintoki did not know how to react. Thus, he only continued on staring at them, bewildered.

“Oi.. Stop doing that, you two,” he said nonchalantly as he scratched his head. “Stop blaming yourselves for something that isn’t your fault. What the hell is this, are we all blaming ourselves for what happened? Well, if you guys are really willing to blame yourselves then do as you wish. Then that only means that all of us had our own share of faults.”

The two still didn’t raise their heads despite what Gintoki had said. They didn’t even dare to look at him, as they were ashamed to face him after all that happened.

“Oi, didn’t you hear me? Pattsuan, Kagura-chan, raise your heads and face your ‘ol Gin-san—”

“Gin-san… There’s still something we still haven’t apologized for…”

“What? What else do you want to apologize for? I told you, you guys haven’t done anything wrong so there’s no need to apologize—”

“For prying into your past even though we do not have the right to do so… for hurting your feelings… for not listening to what you’ve said… Gin-chan, we have done something really bad to you, that’s why… that’s why. . .”

Gintoki inched himself closer to them, but stopped as soon as he noticed that tears fell on the floor, courtesy of his Yato freeloader. And not only that, since as soon as he saw those tears, he then looked at Shinpachi and noticed that he was crying as well, but was trying his hardest to stop his tears from falling down.

“That’s why… Gin-chan, would you forgive us..? Gin-chan, we—”

“Gin-san, we’ll make it up to you, we promise that. That’s why—”

Gintoki then heaved a deep sigh.

“Stop this nonsense. What the hell do you think you’re doing, huh?”

And as soon as the two heard this, they then looked at Gintoki in shock, as he walked towards them with an indifferent expression. He seemed rather angry, even, as he did not say a thing and only walked closer towards them.

The two teenagers bit their lip, expecting the worst to happen. However, what actually happened was different from what they had expected, since Gintoki had only patted the two of them on the head, with him facing them with a longing glance and a faint smile.

“You really are a bunch of idiots. I’m the one who should say all of those, you morons.”

And as soon as he said this, the two couldn’t help themselves anymore as they finally allowed their tears to fall freely on their cheeks, crying as they inched closer to their surrogate brother and father.

And for once, in all those rare moments that Gintoki had shown his affection, this time he pulled the two closer into a hug, allowing them to cry freely on his chest. Much to his surprise, even Sadaharu went towards them, as if wanting to join into the hug between the whole Yorozuya. He then smiled to himself.

“This incident made me realize that I shouldn’t keep anything from the two of you. That’s why… from now on, there’ll be no more secrets between the Yorozuya — between the three of us.”

Sadaharu barked in response, as if saying that he should be included as well. Gintoki only smirked at this.

“Okay, okay, you damn mutt. You’re included as well.”

And the sound of laughter resonated in the air, as the three of them laughed heartily, finally finding peace after all the chaos that happened in the past.

 

 

**XOXOXOX**

When Gintoki and the others finally went down from the rooftop, they then saw Otae, Kyuubei and Sacchan on one of the waiting areas, arguing about what Gintoki guessed to be petty things. From the looks of it, Otae and Kyuubei were arguing with Sacchan, while the latter was dressed in a nurse costume, all complete with a huge syringe that’s about her size.

“Oi, what are you guys doing there? What’s the matter?”

Hearing those words, the three women suddenly cocked their heads towards the silver-haired samurai, finally realizing that he had finally gotten outside. The fact that the two other Yorozuya were behind him delighted them as well, especially Otae.

On the other hand, as soon as she saw Gintoki standing in front of her, Sarutobi Ayame’s love meter went up again and she proceeded to give Gintoki a huge glomp.

“G-GIN-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!”

And as usual, Gintoki had swatted her away, much to her delight.

“Ah, Gin-san… You’re really back! I missed how you’ve been treating me like this! As I’ve expected, no one could ever ignite such feelings inside me other than Gin-san himself!”

“Shut up! Stop clinging to me, you damn bitch!” he exclaimed, trying to push her away despite her persistence. And seeing that all of his efforts are useless as usual, he then scanned the area, and was glad to see that everyone who went with him to Aburanokouji back then was alright. Even though he did not see Zura, he’s sure to be alright, it’s Zura after all. However, he did not see Tsukuyo at all.

He thought of asking them about her whereabouts, but decided not to do so as he guessed that she maybe went to somewhere else and was safe. He then made a mental note to himself to call Hinowa later to check up on the Shinigami Dayuu.

And just as when he was about to sit down, he then noticed someone approach him in a hurry.

“DANNA! YOROZUYA NO DANNA!” screamed the guy, whom Gintoki recognized to be the Shinsengumi spy and the full-fledged jimi, Yamazaki Sagaru. Curious on what brought him there, he then stood up and greeted the Shinsengumi spy.

“Oi, what’s up, Jimmy? You came to see me? How sweet of you! But don’t need to worry, since I’m all fine now! You shouldn’t—”

“There’s no time for that, Danna! There’s a huge trouble! You need to come with me, Danna! There’s no more time to waste!”

“Huh? What the hell are you talking about, Jimmy boy? So what if there’s a huge trouble? It doesn’t concern me at all! Tell that kind of thing to the mayonnaise freak, not me!”

But Yamazaki did not take heed of this as he pulled Gintoki to forcefully make him stand. “But Danna, this kind of thing does concern you! You’re the main suspect after all!”

“M-Main suspect..? O-Oi, what the hell are you talking about, Jimmy? What do you mean by that? I ain’t done any crime at all, what the fuck are you saying..?”

“Danna!”

Finding no other choice, Gintoki grumbled to himself and stood up, his right hand finding its way on his silver hair. He then followed Yamazaki outside, with everyone following him shortly thereafter. And as soon as they reached outside, he was surprised to see everyone forming in crowds. The nurses were chatting among themselves, with almost all of them having a worried look on their faces. The patients and other bystanders also looked at the spectacle before them, as it is rare for any ordinary Edo citizen to see the two of the largest police forces in whole Edo, the Shinsengumi and the Mimawarigumi, to gather in front of the public.

And as soon as everyone noticed that he arrived at the scene, Gintoki felt a bit nervous but proceeded to go forward anyway. With Yamazaki leading him towards the three high-ranking officers of both police forces, every Shinsengumi and Mimawarigumi member paved a way for Gintoki to cross, which made him even more wary of the situation.

Just what in the world is happening?

He then stopped on his tracks as soon as he is in front of Hijikata Toushirou, the Shinsengumi Vice-Chief, as well as Sasaki Isaburou, the Chief of the Mimawarigumi. Kondou Isao stood behind Gintoki, trying his best not to leap his way towards his lady love, Shimura Tae, who was standing with Shinpachi, Kagura, Sacchan and Kyuubei among the bystanders.

Trying to look as unaffected as possible, Gintoki gave them a look of indifference and picked his nose.

“Oi, oi. What do you think you guys are doing here, huh? What do you want from me? Are you all going to greet me for my recovery? Are you guys having a party and you want me to come along?” He looked at the crowd as if to emphasize his point. “Sorry, but the crowd’s too big for us to do ‘LET’S PARTY’. And besides, I’d rather choose other people than to LET’S PARTY with you guys. Every party’s going to suck if there’s a bunch of freaks as company, you see.”

Hijikata only glared at him in return. “Shut the hell up, Yorozuya. This situation is serious, don’t act like an idiot like you usually do.”

“Huh?! The fuck are you talking about, you mayo freak? Aren’t you acting like an idiot as well? And besides, I know that you’re the one who wants to LET’S PARTY the most!”

“I said to shut up, I don’t wanna LET’S PARTY, you damn bastard!”

And right at that moment, Sasaki Isaburou harrumphed in order to get their attention.

Gintoki then glared at him. “And just what the hell is the elite Mimawarigumi Chief Sasaki Isaburou doing here? What do you want from me that you’ll even go all the way to visit me in the hospital? Such a thing isn’t elite, you know.”

“Don’t be so hasty, Sakata-san. And besides, you should be honored since even the most elite of the elite forces of the elite Mimawarigumi have shown their elite faces in front of you. Such a thing is just too elite, don’t you think?”

Gintoki just rolled his eyes at this. “I don’t know about that. All I know is that I wanna kick your elite ass for saying too much elite in one sentence.”

Ignoring that reply, Sasaki then fumbled for something inside his coat, only to hand out one of his cellphones to Gintoki. “Anyway, since I’m already here I suppose I will give you the elite privilege of becoming my email buddy again. I can’t let my favorite email buddy leave me again, after all.”

Gintoki then took a glance at the cellphone on his hands and read the message in the Inbox.

> _FROM: Sabu-chan_
> 
> _SUB: Your newest cellphone! =)_
> 
> _Don’t throw away this one, okay? Since you’ve always been throwing out all of the cellphones that I’ve given you.. Don’t be mean to Sabu-chan~! Anyway, I have a surprise for you aside from the fact that we can mail each other again. Aren’t you excited? \\(^o^)/_

“J-Just what the heck is this...?” trailed off Gintoki as he stared at the message in front of him. “Surprise? What the hell do you mean by that, oi!”

Sasaki only adjusted his monocle as he typed on his cellphone. And all of a sudden, Gintoki’s phone received another message.

“That’s fast! The heck is that, when did you have the time to type that message?! It’s as if it was already pre-typed!”

> _FROM: Sabu-chan_
> 
> _SUB: Re: Your newest cellphone! =)_
> 
> _Awww, you’re so mean, Sakata-san! I told you to become my mail buddy again, so you should reply to me by texting back! I’ll be waiting~ \\(^o^)/_

Gintoki then spared no more time as he threw the cellphone on the ground and destroyed it.

“LIKE HELL I WOUUUUUUULD!!! I DON’T CARE AT ALL!”

Sasaki frowned at this. “Sakata-san, why did you do that? Didn’t I tell you not to destroy it again?”

“Like hell I care! I’m right here in front of you, why do we need to mail each other like we’re classmates who haven’t seen each other for years?! And besides, what’s with ‘Sabu-chan’?! That’s creepy! Why don’t you just tell it to me straight, instead of prolonging it like what you do now? That’ll be for the best!”

Seeing that he had no more options, Sasaki let out a sigh and gave him a serious look. “Shiroyasha-dono, you seem to be in a hurry right now. Why don’t you savor more of your time? That will be for the best, since by the next hour you will finally live your life as part of the elite.”

Everyone was taken aback upon hearing this. Gintoki was left speechless, while Hijikata gave Sasaki a spiteful look.

“Oi, Sasaki. What the hell do you mean by that?” asked Hijikata, who was still surprised on what he had just heard. “What do you mean he’s going to be a part of the elite? You mean you’re gonna recruit him?”

Upon hearing this, Gintoki’s imagination had gone full speed ahead as he visualized himself wearing the Mimawarigumi uniform. He then shuddered at the thought.

“Oi, oi. Just what kind of games are you playing, Sasaki-kyokuchou?” asked Gintoki. “Recruiting a former Joui into the ranks of the elite? I thought you guys are proud of your elite status, but I guess I was wrong after all.. Although we’re talking about me here, so maybe it wasn’t a mistake.”

Sasaki only laughed at this, which made Gintoki scowl in response.

“Sakata-san, I hope you don’t get me wrong. When I said that you’re going to be a part of the elite, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to be a part of the Mimawarigumi. It just means that you’re going to stay with us—the elite.”

“W-Wait a second,” said Hijikata as he tried to process what Sasaki had just said. “He’s going to stay with you? What do you mean? Don’t tell me you’re gonna put him under custody?”

“That’s exactly right, Hijikata-san. Oh my, I didn’t expect that ruffians such as the Shinsengumi would actually get what I was trying to say.” He then turned to Gintoki and stared at him. “So, Sakata-san? What is your decision?”

Gintoki only smirked at this. “So… simply put, you’re going to arrest me, is that it?”

Upon hearing this, Shinpachi and Kagura who were also listening to their conversation could not help themselves any longer. They then made their way towards Gintoki and the others, not caring about the fact that they have no right to do so.

“Wait, Shin-chan, Kagura-chan!” exclaimed Otae as she held them back in place, trying to stop them from interfering. “I know that you guys are against this, but you should behave yourselves! If you just barge in there, Gin-san might get into a bigger trouble!”

Shinpachi tried his hardest to get free from his sister’s grip. “But aneue, I just can’t leave Gin-san alone like this! I just can’t accept this! Why would Gin-san get arrested? He has done nothing wrong!”

“That’s right, anego!” added Kagura, who did the same thing as Shinpachi. “Gin-chan doesn’t deserve this! He hasn’t done anything wrong! He shouldn’t be arrested just like that!”

“But Shin-chan, Kagura-chan—”

Before Shinpachi and Kagura could even say anything in return, they stopped on their tracks as someone had suddenly swung a sword at them, and that they were only a hair’s breadth away from death if they haven’t dodged it in time. As sweat trickled on their faces, they looked at the owner of the sword, only to realize that it was the Vice-Chief of the Mimawarigumi.

Shinpachi only looked at her in disbelief. “N-Nobume-san…”

“I won’t allow you to interfere. That is the mission that Isaburou has given me, and I will be sure to make it happen.”

“Oi, let go of us, you bastard!” protested Kagura. “We’re gonna help Gin-chan! Gin-chan’s in a pinch right now, we have to save him!”

“Even if you interfere right now, it won’t help him with anything,” replied Imai Nobume as she stood still without moving away her gaze from the two of them. “It is best to just leave it to themselves. Barging in there would only make it harder for him.”

Realizing the truth behind her words, the two of them were left speechless, not knowing what to do.

Seeing the commotion among the bystanders, Sasaki Isaburou fumbled for his handcuffs and presented it to the silver-haired man. “Oh my, such loyal followers you have there, Sakata-san. Anyway, you’re correct. We are here to arrest you, so it is best for you to follow us obediently.”

“Like hell I’m gonna go with you guys after revealing that you’re gonna arrest me! I’m not that stupid to just—”

“What are his charges? Why are you arresting him?” cut off Hijikata, as he glared daggers at Sasaki. “Is it… connected to the incident at Aburanokouji?”

Gintoki was left speechless upon hearing that thing from Hijikata. Indeed, he was involved in that incident at Aburanokouji. However, he hasn’t done something that would warrant him to be arrested. Unless they count the number of property that he had damaged, there’s no way that he had done anything else.

“Yes, it is connected to the incident at Aburanokouji,” affirmed Sasaki, who now stared at Gintoki. “Sakata-san, you are hereby arrested for the assassination of the roju, Ii Masayasu. Please surrender yourself to us immediately.”

Gintoki only stared back at him in disbelief. “A-Assassination? Oi, oi.. What the hell are you talking about, Sasaki? I don’t remember anything about assassinating anyone out there. And besides, who the hell is that guy? I haven’t even heard of him, so why would I kill him then?!”

“I am not the one to decide your innocence, Sakata-san. I am just following orders from the Bakufu itself. Even though the Shogun still hasn’t heard anything about this incident, the rest of the Council decided that you are to be taken under custody while the investigation was still ongoing. That was what they have decided.”

“I don’t care about what they have decided or not!” he growled back. “What I wanna know is why I am suddenly connected to that case! I don’t even know a thing about this, so why am I suddenly—”

Hijikata had cut him off again, much to his dismay. “Let me guess about it. You guys have managed to salvage a few records from the AV Room, and one of those had him and Katsura in it, is that right?”

“Oh? That’s really interesting, Hijikata-san. So that Jouishishi Katsura Kotarou was with him as well? That would only make his case even stronger then. Well, that isn’t too surprising, considering that they were once comrades during the war…” He looked at Gintoki in spite. “Isn’t that right, Shiroyasha-dono?”

Gintoki’s scowl only became deeper. “I don’t know about that, you bastard.”

“Anyway, please don’t be angry at me. We, the elite Mimawarigumi are just following orders from above. So if you’ll excuse us, we would like you to turn over yourself to us, Sakata-san. Further resistance is futile.”

Faced with that dilemma, Gintoki didn’t know what to do. He could easily resist them and fight back, but doing so would make him a fugitive and that would affect the whole Yorozuya. However, if he goes with them, then he would be tainted as a criminal, and it would still have the same effect to them. And since either choice would lead to the same conclusion, he then decided to resist.

He was about to reach out for the bokutou on his waist when Kondou Isao suddenly entered the scene.

“Sasaki-dono, I beg your pardon but there’s something I would like to make clear first. Does the Mimawarigumi have an arrest warrant with them?”

The man-in-question stood speechless for a while and only stared at the Shinsengumi Commander. “I guess that we don’t have any, Kondou-san. Although we do not need any arrest warrants with us in order to arrest that man, since we are already too elite for that. And besides, this is what the Bakufu itself had decided.”

Much to everyone’s surprise, the gorilla commander did not even flinch—not even a bit. He just stood there with resolve in his eyes, and for a second, Gintoki had somehow changed his opinion of him… though only momentarily.

“If that’s so, then do you have the official order signed by the Council with you? Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to hand Sakata Gintoki over to you guys, as he is still within Shinsengumi custody.”

“Oh? You’re speaking such amusing words, Kondou-san. Are you really sure that you aren’t just covering up for him?”

Kondou only smiled at this. “Fear not, Sasaki-dono. I and the Yorozuya may have been long-time acquaintances, but I assure you that we are faithful to our job. We aren’t covering for anybody. Just like you, we only wish for this case to be resolved as soon as possible. However, putting him into prison would not help this case. As far as we all know, this man and Katsura are the only clues we have in this case, that’s why as much as possible, we would like to conduct a close observation on this man.”

“If you want a close observation, then we can do that just fine in our barracks. There’s no need for you guys to interfere with the elite.” He then looked at his men, signaling them to arrest the Shiroyasha, in which they complied.

Seeing that Gintoki was about to be arrested by the rest of the Mimawarigumi, Shinpachi and Kagura retaliated and tried their hardest to approach him, but to no avail since Nobume’s katana was still pointed at their necks. Pissed off, Kagura was about to attack Nobume until the latter’s sword was swatted away by another sword—one that was owned by a certain Okita Sougo.

Kagura and Shinpachi were left speechless upon seeing him.

“S-Sadist…”

“Okita-san..”

Looking at them with a nonchalant expression, Sougo then faced Nobume and decided to taunt her.

“It seems like you nosy elites couldn’t seem to hold your own horses that you’ll even barge into our territory. Did you elites have already fallen so low that you even have to steal our prey?”

Nobume did not say a word. She just pointed her sword back at him, as if telling him to fight her just like what they always did. And Sougo was more than happy to comply.

Seeing this, Sasaki tried to stop them. “Nobume-san, it is time to join with us elites and leave those ruffians alone. Or better yet, you should try to arrest that Sakata Gintoki and bring him with us.”

Nobume then sheathed her katana and walked towards Gintoki. Kondou Isao, who saw everything occur right in front him, was unable to stand it anymore and stood in front of Gintoki.

“On my authority as the Shinsengumi Commander, I would like to request the Mimawarigumi to please stay out of this. We are still conducting investigations about the issue, and this man is crucial to its fulfillment. The details are still confidential at the moment, although I assure you that this would be the best course of action for now.”

“Best course of action? Despite the fact that you guys weren’t even able to protect a single man?”

Kondou hung his head low in shame. “Sasaki-dono, I wouldn’t like to mention this but arresting an alleged suspect without any arrest warrant, as well as pushing your way towards a person on our custody is against the law. If you really want to get him, then please comply with the assigned rules.”

Hearing this made Sasaki sigh in response. “It seems that I may have underestimated you a bit, Kondou-san. I didn’t expect you to be like this.” He then looked at his forces and made them withdraw. “The Shinsengumi have won against the elite this time, but it won’t happen for a second time. Anyway, please always remember that such a thing is not our own decision and was only an order coming from the Council.”

And with those words, the Mimawarigumi finally withdrew and walked away, giving Gintoki another chance to live as a free man. Realizing that everything is now over, the man of the day let out a sigh of relief and gave Kondou Isao a mischievous look.

“I never knew that gorillas could be so fierce,” he trailed off, chuckling to himself.

 

 

**XOXOXOX**

After all of the things that happened, the Yorozuya was discharged from the hospital and was now staying at the Shimuras for further medical assistance, as their wounds weren’t fully healed yet. With the three of them occupying the dojo as their room, Shinpachi and Kagura were now fast asleep on their own futon, while Gintoki, on the other hand, was still wide awake, sitting on the engawa of the Kodoukan Dojo.

Looking at the night skies, he then smiled as he let himself bathe in the glow of the full moon. And as he relaxed and spread his fingers on the rough surface of the floor, his mind wandered off on its own as he tried to reminisce about the things that happened during the day.

Everything was okay now—at least, he thought it was, since everything was now okay between him and both Shinpachi and Kagura. He had already told them everything earlier that night, and they were able to accept it just fine. He also heard from them about what happened at Aburanokouji, and such things made him furious even more at that bastard of a Yato named Kamui.

However, the fact that he became a wanted man right now before the Shinsengumi and the Mimawarigumi frustrated him greatly since he didn’t really know anything about it. And even though he was miraculously able to get away from it thanks (surprisingly) to the gorilla’s help, the fact that he’s being under surveillance now irritates him so much.

But still, he was glad that everyone who had helped him before was safe, although he hadn’t seen Katsura and Tsukuyo just yet. He’s sure that Zura was okay now though, since he saw one of Elizabeth’s blank signboards in the hospital right before he left. And as for Tsukuyo… well, he doesn’t have any news about her. She wasn’t in the hospital, and no one saw her either ever since that incident at Aburanokouji. And even though it was hard for him to admit it, he’s starting to get worried about her… although he was sure that worrying about something like that wouldn’t help them on their current situation.

He then shook his head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, but it was all futile as the fact that he was staring at the moon made him remember of the late-night conversations that he had with her every single day ever since she had stayed at the Yorozuya.

And thus, to finally give himself some peace of mind, he decided to ask about her from Otae, who finally entered the dojo in order to check up on them.

“I.. I don’t know about that, Gin-san,” she replied to his question, which made Gintoki a little bit disappointed. “All I’ve heard was that she left immediately since there was an emergency at Yoshiwara. I haven’t even seen her ever since that incident at Aburanokouji.”

Hearing this, Gintoki let out a sigh before looking back at the night skies once again.

He smirked a bit.

“Leaving without even saying anything…what a heartless woman.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sugita Tomokazu – Gintoki’s seiyuu. Is there even a Gintama fan who doesn’t know Sugitan? LOL XD Anyway, he is also Joseph Joestar’s (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 2 – Battle Tendency) seiyuu in the 2012 anime and the two latest games (including the yet-to-be-released All-Star Battle). 
> 
> Ishida Akira – Katsura’s seiyuu. On a certain episode of Tokyo Encounter, Sugita told Nakamura Yuuichi that Ishida-san had a very strong AT field and that he won’t even budge no matter how hard anyone tries. However, Ishida-san gave in when Sugita and Kugimiya Rie-san (Kagura’s VA) asked him to eat with them. As for the girlfriend joke, yeah, it’s true. It’s stated in an interview I’ve read somewhere that Ishida-san first had a girlfriend when he was 21 years old, and it was a girl in his university. He was actually ashamed to tell this since he felt that he was really late on that aspect. XD
> 
> Tohru Furuya – General Eren / Monday Elizabeth’s seiyuu. The joke here is that in the old CAPCOM game of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Furuya-san was the one voicing Joseph. (Note that Sugita is the one who voices Joseph now.)
> 
> haki, chakra, reiryoku, nen and magoi – references to One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, HunterxHunter and Magi, respectively.
> 
> Zangetsu – the name of Ichigo’s zanpakutou. Also in the form of an ossan.
> 
> Sabaody Archipelago – One Piece reference. This is where the Straw Hat Pirates were supposed to meet after the two-year timeskip.
> 
> Tenkaiichi Budokai – Dragonball reference. You know it already. XD
> 
> Battoujutsu – the art of sword-drawing. Although this is more of a Rurouni Kenshin reference.
> 
> Unko-kun – “Crap-kun / Feces-kun / Shit-kun”. Gintoki just added a suffix as if he was referring to it as a person.
> 
> Unko-jutsu no Himitsu Ougi: Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki – Rurouni Kenshin reference. Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki was the name of Himura Kenshin’s ultimate attack.
> 
> LET’S PARTY - I’m sure you know it already, but for those who didn’t, that line was a catchphrase of Date Masamune from Sengoku Basara. And of course, he and Hijikata have the same seiyuu, Nakai Kazuya-san!


	15. One should always remember to never let things repeat a second time.

It was a cold autumn night at that time when the two kunoichi, who go by the names of Tsukuyo and Azumi, decided to spend their time at a small inn on the outskirts of Edo. The said inn was one of the few inns that were located in the area, as they were currently stranded at the rural areas on the edge of the capital, away from the busy and noisy streets of the urban districts, away from the heart of the city…

And of course, away from Kabuki-chou, which Tsukuyo considered to be her second home.

Right after bidding farewell to a sleeping Gintoki at the hospital, she decided to bring Azumi along in order to help her confront the Sonjouroushi. She still doesn’t know what to do once she goes into face-to-face with them, but what matters to her was that she would be able to confront them and put an end to all of this. All that she knows was that she would probably be able to find her answer once she meets them. And as such, she did it.

And in her attempt to find an answer for all her problems, they ended up being stranded on a small village right next to Asakusa, a major entertainment district in Edo.

That’s what brings them to the aforementioned inn, and as of this time, the two were at the table, with only a candle to illuminate their surroundings from the looming darkness which had already crept its way into the vicinity. They had serious looks on their faces, which suited perfectly to the seriousness of their discussion.

“What did you just say, Kashira?” asked Azumi, who was surprised at her superior’s sudden question. “Why are you asking that? I already told you that I don’t know that much about that group, I’ve told you everything I know—”

Tsukuyo sighed at this. “I know what you are trying to say, but I know that you still haven’t told me everything. Just tell me everything you know. Even the ones which you think are irrelevant.”

“But aren’t you supposed to be looking for their hideout? If that’s so, then you shouldn’t bother on finding out about the organization itself or about its history. It’ll just be a waste of time.”

“I don’t mind,” interjected Tsukuyo. “Finding out more about them, even the ones which you consider to be unnecessary would be extremely beneficial for us. So please.”

Finding no other choices but to do what she was told, she then heaved a sigh. “Alright. I suppose that I shall do what you asked of me then.”

Tsukuyo just nodded in response, awaiting her answer.

“I don’t know much about the Sonjouroushi, since the Oniwabanshuu had only been joining forces with them for a very short time. All I know is that they are just like any other Joui factions throughout Japan.. However, what makes them so different is that they usually do their operations covertly, and they try to mask their actions by joining other similar factions on their operations. Their leader though, is another story.

“Uehara Zennosuke is the current leader of the Sonjouroushi. And as you can see, this is the thing that makes this small and seemingly powerless faction powerful: the fact that he was a part of the Bakufu itself, someone who plays a particularly large role in it. He can influence the Bakufu’s decisions directly without getting caught, and he can make everything act according to his plan. Still, despite that fact, it is still unclear on what his real objective was.”

“If it’s still unclear on what his real objective was, then why did the Oniwabanshuu decided to join forces with him in the first place?”

Azumi pondered about that particular question for a second before giving her reply. “As far as I know, the Sonjouroushi had offered them a deal: they will bring back the Oniwabanshuu’s lost glory as long as they help them on taking the whole Bakufu by themselves. And since our faction wanted to bring back the Oniwabanshuu’s name into the fame, they agreed to it. Still, I really don’t understand what’s happening… All of that group’s actions are discreet that even our group did not have any idea on what they’re thinking. And even though they said that they are interested on controlling the Bakufu, what I don’t get is the reason why Uehara-san was so particularly interested on you, Kashira.”

Tsukuyo did not say a word. She looked away from her as if in deep thought, and Azumi in turn had noticed her erratic behavior.

“Kashira,” she spoke, her gaze all fixated on the Shinigami Dayuu. “Please.. don’t try to do anything reckless. Even though I have agreed to help you on your request, even though I do not have the right to stand by your side anymore after all the things that I’ve done to you… I do not want you to risk your life.”

The woman-in-question stiffened a bit upon hearing this, but eventually got better. She smiled at her in return.

“Don’t worry, Azumi. I won’t do anything reckless. I promise you.”

The younger girl wasn’t convinced. However, seeing that whatever she does, all that she can do was to take her word for it, she only fixated her gaze upon her and looked at her straight in the eyes.

“I won’t allow you to take on the enemies by yourself, Kashira. If there comes a time wherein there’s no other choice, then please, allow me to assist you.”

Tsukuyo nodded in agreement, which made the younger kunoichi smile in return. She then reached out for the cup of tea on the table and settled it on her hands, and took a small sip from it. The older woman then took that as a signal and did the same.

All of a sudden, a few seconds after she took a sip from her cup of tea, she then felt a little drowsy, which Tsukuyo easily noticed.

Tsukuyo looked at her in worry. “Oi, Azumi. What’s the matter? Is there something wrong?”

Her dizziness and drowsiness taking the best out of her, Azumi tried her hardest to deny it, but was unable to do so. It did not take too long when she finally lost consciousness, and Tsukuyo, upon seeing this, immediately rushed to her side in order to tend to her.

“Oi, Azumi! Azumi! Take a hold of yourself, Azumi!”

But she did not even budge. She was still unconscious, and once Tsukuyo had confirmed that she had indeed lost her consciousness, she then placed her on a nearby bed and tucked her into the sheets, before picking up her belongings and going towards the front door. But before she could even get out, she gave a final glance towards her subordinate, and gave her a bitter smile.

“I’m sorry if I did this kind of thing to you, Azumi. But.. please understand. This is my problem alone. I won’t let you get involved with this. And I’m sorry if I was unable to fulfill my promise. ”

Deciding that she had said enough, she slid the door open and went out of the room, leaving the young unconscious girl alone.

“I guess… this is goodbye. For now, at least.”

**XOXOXOX**

Nighttime came at the Shimura’s and Gintoki still had a hard time accepting the events of the past few days. This particular night marked the second day ever since he was released from the hospital, after that dreaded event which he had never looked forward to even to the tiniest bit. As he breathed in the cool, misty air, he leaned himself against the fusuma of his room and stared at the night skies.

The sky felt a little bare, he thought to himself as he saw that the silver moon had hid itself amid the dark clouds; the fact that there was not a single star visible to the vast, dark space only helped to prove his point. However, what struck him the most was not the fact that there were neither stars nor a moon visible that night—what struck him the most was the fact that as soon as he gazed onto the night skies, his thoughts have lingered towards a certain purple-eyed young blonde woman who had a habit of being serious most of the time. These peaceful nights reminded him of the times which the two of them have shared, talking about a lot of things as they let themselves be covered by the warm moonlight. And he gotta admit, those times were indeed pleasant, no doubts about it.

Their nightly chat was the one thing which he had been looking forward to ever since the time she had stayed at the Yorozuya. Despite the fact that he was really troubled about his problems regarding Shouyou-sensei, those little moments with her made him feel a little bit better.

It all started on her first night at the Yorozuya. He noticed that Tsukuyo couldn’t sleep at that time and hence, she had stayed at the balcony to gather her thoughts. He joined her for their casual chat—they talked about a lot of things, from the Yorozuya to Yoshiwara, to the people and the things around Kabuki-chou, to the state of living and even to the best brand of strawberry milk. He was surprised to see that she was actually really easy to talk to, even though he was quite traumatized by her drunken stupor. Still, that fact did not stop him from looking forward to talking with her again.

And they talked again the next night. And the next. And the next. And before he knew it, he actually became used to the idea and looked forward to it every night, which eventually turned to be somewhat of a habit.

And it is only now when he realized that this habit became a pain as he was unable to go asleep since he was so used on talking with her before he went to bed.

Scratching his head in annoyance, he heaved a deep sigh and slid his hand beneath his jinbei before rubbing his stomach. He entered the room in haste, and before he knew it, he now stood in front of a telephone, staring at it completely as he pondered on what he should do next.

As if his own body was doing it on reflex, he dialed the number and called Yoshiwara. He heard from Otae that Tsukuyo had gone back there due to an emergency, and he was only calling because he wanted to know what’s happening there.

Yeah, that’s it. It’s not as if he wanted to hear her voice or anything.

The phone rang one time. Two times. Three times. And when it finally connected, his heart soared.

_[Hello? This is Hinowa speaking. May I help you?]_

And it suddenly faltered due to reasons he did not even know.

“Uh, hey there, Hinowa-san. This is Gintoki. May I ask if there’s.. well, you know, Tsukuyo..? Is she there?”

_[Tsukuyo? She’s not here, Gin-san. Besides, isn’t she staying with you? I haven’t seen her ever since she went there with you to Kabuki-chou.]_

Gintoki rolled his eyes as soon as he heard this. The fact that Hinowa herself had said that Tsukuyo hadn’t come back to Yoshiwara ever since then was proof that the Shinigami Dayuu was lying. But the question is… why? Why would she even go as far as to lie to them? Why did she leave so suddenly that she hadn’t even said anything to them? Isn’t she a part of the Yorozuya now? Be it temporary or whatever, he was irritated by the fact that she hadn’t said anything at all. However, he knew that he had no right to be like that, given the fact that he was the same as well.

But… where could she have been?

He tried to think of the reasons on why she did that, but it only made him dizzy and thus, he felt lazy to even think about it. And right at that moment, he cursed to himself as he realized that the disappearance of that certain blonde kunoichi only added to the multitude of problems that he had.

Grumbling to himself, he reached out to the phone once again and dialed another number—Ikumatsu’s. He called the place in order to contact Zura, since he felt as if he would be able to reach him easily if he did contact him there. He felt that if someone would be able to help him find out about the Sonjouroushi, then it would be no other than him. Plus, he was sure that if Tsukuyo had indeed lied to them about her disappearance, then it would only lead to one thing: her disappearance was indeed connected with that group. Given his earlier experiences involving them, he knew that he should act now before it becomes too late.

When the phone call had finally connected to the other line, Gintoki snapped out of his reverie and heard Ikumatsu mutter a lively “hello.”

“Ikumatsu-san, is Zura in there right now? This is Sakata Gintoki, I have something to talk to him about—”

_[Ah, Gin-san? Is that you? How are you doing, Gin-san? You haven’t dropped by the shop for ages!]_

“Ah, yes. I’m doing fine, yeah. But you see, Ikumatsu, I need to talk to Zura right now—”

_[..Zura? Who’s that?]_

“Huh? What are you talking about? You know him. It’s Zura. Z-U-R-A. Katsura Kotarou. You know, that long-haired weirdo with a weird duck mascot on his back.”

_[Aaaah, are you talking about Katsura-san? Wait a sec, let me call him first…]_

And before Gintoki could even say anything in reply, Ikumatsu had left the phone on standby. However, he did not even mind it one bit. What came into his mind right at that moment was the fact that Zura was indeed staying at Ikumatsu’s. And if he didn’t know better, that was indeed a sign that things were getting better between the both of them. After all, ever since they were kids, Zura had always had a penchant for married women, especially young widows. Thus, it was no wonder that he was so smitten with the young Nishiki Ikumatsu. And to think that he actually thought that his true love would always be Elizabeth…

Right at that moment, Katsura Kotarou was finally on the other line which made Gintoki drop all of his shippy thoughts towards the two.

_[Gintoki! Why did you call me? Ah, I see. It seems that you have finally decided to go back to being a Joui. It’s about time we have the Shiroyasha on our ranks! Gintoki, if you join us, I just know that you’ll be a great—]_

“Shut the hell up, Zura. Anyway, I’ve got something to talk with you about. Could you come at the Shimura’s for a while? It’s about that group which you had laid your eyes on—”

_[Oh, so you wanna join their ranks instead of ours? Why, Gintoki? Isn’t the Nationalist faction good enough for you?]_

“Use your damn brain for a minute there, you bastard. Didn’t I tell you to investigate about the Sonjouroushi ages ago? Tell me more about it, I need to know what they are—”

_[I get it. Don’t worry about it, Gintoki. I’ll be there in a jiffy, so just wait there.]_

Before Gintoki could even say another word, the line got disconnected, leaving him with no other connection to the so-called ‘Nobleman of Fury.’ Stifling a huge yawn on his hand, he walked towards the corner of the room and reached out for his bokutou, his fingers tracing the kanji for ‘Lake Touya.’ He then brushed his hand against his eyes as he gave a yawn for the second time, and before he knew it, he felt a bit drowsy until he finally fell asleep.

**XOXOXOX**

It was already midnight when Azumi finally regained consciousness. She still felt a little dizzy, although not that worse that she wouldn’t be able to handle it. Looking at her surroundings, she tried to process what just happened as she realized that she was already on her futon, tucked into the sheets with no one else around.

Wait. No one else… is around?

Shit.

Realizing the matter at hand, Azumi immediately searched for Tsukuyo everywhere—but she still wasn’t found. She bit her lip in anxiousness.

And right at that moment, she had come to a realization: Kashira had left her alone in order to confront the enemy by herself. She broke her promise.

And she hadn’t even done anything to stop her.

**XOXOXOX**

Gintoki awoke abruptly from his slumber as soon as he felt the cold gush of wind brush against his skin. He scanned his surroundings and rubbed his eyes, and as he looked at the Justaway clock that was just sitting on the corner, he then realized that he had fallen asleep for almost two hours—since it was already midnight now.

And as soon as he realized what time it was, he immediately went straight outside, since his childhood friend, Katsura Kotarou, might’ve already been there. And his hunch was indeed right, since as soon as he went outside, he then saw the young Jouishishi sitting outside the gates, alone without his beloved ‘pet,’ Elizabeth.

“Oi, Zura, are you still alive there? Have you been waiting for too long?”

Katsura just looked at him in silence, his bloodshot eyes staring at his own orbs directly.

“I was on standby the entire time.”

As soon as Gintoki heard this certain catchphrase, Gintoki had the sudden urge to beat him up. However, he tried his hardest to stop himself from doing so since him doing something like that wouldn’t be beneficial and would only make the purpose of Zura’s visit there be delayed. Sighing to himself, he invited him inside the house in order for him to ‘spill the beans.’

Walking towards the guest room where Gintoki was currently staying, Katsura casually sat on the engawa and took a sip from the cup of green tea which Gintoki had offered him. The silver-haired man followed suit as well, opting to sit next to his childhood friend as he waited for him to start talking.

But a few minutes have already passed and Katsura still hasn’t said anything. Gintoki, who was waiting for him to say something, grew irritated by the second and slammed his childhood friend’s face straight onto the ground.

Wiping the traces of the tea which he had spluttered out when Gintoki had shoved his face onto the wooden floor, Katsura gave him a serious look and said, “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Gintoki?!”

“That’s my friggin’ line, you fucking moron!” Gintoki furiously replied. “I’ve been waiting for you to start talking for ages now! But what the hell are you doing? All you’ve done for the past hour was to sip your tea like some hotshot or something! Are you still going to tell me everything or not?!”

“You’re really such an impatient person, Gintoki. Can’t you even wait for a bit?”

“No. So start right now—and make it quick.”

Seeing how serious Gintoki was, Katsura was left with no other choices but to comply. He then heaved a deep breath.

“There’s not much info about the Sonjouroushi, and some of the things that I’ll tell you are only hypotheses that were drawn from some of the rumors that I’ve heard about them. Is that okay?”

Gintoki gave him a small nod, which Katsura took as a signal to finally start talking.

“There are a lot of factions among the Jouiroushi: one of them is the Nationalist faction, which I am a part of; there is the Kiheitai, which is headed by Takasugi; and there’s also the faction which we were a part of before, and there are also a lot of small and unknown Amanto-resistance groups, and the Sonjouroushi—a faction whose name was based on the slogan of ‘Sonnou Joui’ or ‘Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians,’—is also one of them. And from what we could deduce from that said slogan, we can assume that they have plans on abolishing the Bakufu and on transferring the power from the Shogun back to the Emperor, just like what it was in the ancient times.”

“Ancient times? It wasn’t that ancient, you moron. It’s only been a few centuries and it’s—”

“The Sonjouroushi is just a small Joui faction which was relatively unheard of and was usually discreet on their actions—until now, that is. And I’m sure you know about this already, but it was not known by many that the leader of the said faction is also a high-ranking official of the Bakufu. In fact, this only made the group more powerful, as he can easily use his position to his leverage. However, all this time, the group had hardly done anything worth mentioning… so it really is a mystery on why they are suddenly acting on it now.”

“Zura, I don’t give a damn about that. The only thing that I’m interested in is who the hell that man was, what in the world is his motive was and where on Earth would I be able to find their headquarters. That’s all I care about and—”

“A few days from now, the newly-made flying ‘castle in the sky,’ Naputa, is going to be inaugurated,” Katsura suddenly blurted out, making the Yorozuya leader speechless in irritation. “If you really want to cross paths with the Sonjouroushi once again, then that’s the best thing you could have a shot at.”

Gintoki furrowed his brow. “What? And what good would that bring me? I only need to find the Sonjouroushi, not to actively join the Joui or something. And besides, ‘castle in the sky?’ Isn’t that a complete rip-off of Laputa?!”

“I don’t know about it either, but based on the intelligence reports of my subordinates, something like that is likely to happen. You see, I said that it’s going to be an inauguration of the Naputa, but it could actually be something else entirely.”

“Oi, Naputa’s just simply Laputa, isn’t it?! I know that Sorachi really liked Laputa that he even claimed to have been inspired by it, but it doesn’t mean that you should place it in here and parody it, oi! And besides, for what reason would the Sonjouroushi want to attend that stupid party? Are they out of their minds, huh?!”

“From the data I’ve gathered, it was said that the Shogun would be attending the said inauguration. So to put it simply, the inauguration might actually be a feint; the Bakufu might use the inauguration as a way to hide the Shogun, as assassination attempts on him were high, with the death of the roju and the whole incident at Aburanokouji being the trigger. So if you really want to have a shot at them, then you would most likely meet them there since if they are going to do something, then that would be the most appropriate time.”

Katsura looked at Gintoki and he noticed his frantic expression. He wondered about why he had such a look on his face despite the fact that he still had his usual dead fish eyes a little while ago, and he deduced that he might’ve been guilty since they were partly responsible for all the mess at Aburanokouji.

But still, he wanted to make things clear so he said: “Oi, Gintoki. What’s the matter? Having that look on your face.. are you constipated?”

Gintoki was dumbfounded at this. He looked at him in spite and grabbed him by the hem of his clothes. “Where on Earth did you get the idea that I’m constipated? Are you retarded?”

“Well, you can’t blame me if you had that kind of look.. but really, what’s the matter? You looked like you have something on your mind, something that you still haven’t told me yet.”

The Yorozuya only looked away and did not say a thing. Noticing this, Katsura only gave a sigh and faced him with a serious look. “I see. You don’t need to tell me about it then,” he remarked, noticing that the former was unwilling to say anything.

Gintoki only took a sip from his cup of tea and stared at the night skies. “But really, you don’t need to worry,” he consoled. “A lot of things happened these past few days and it just happened to come on my mind. It’s nothing important.”

Katsura did not say a word, but Gintoki heard him give a small chuckle at what he said—but he guessed that it might just be his imagination, since Zura wouldn’t actually laugh at what he had said—

“But let me guess—it has something to do with your girlfriend, Tsukuyo-dono, isn’t it?”

At this notion, Gintoki couldn’t help himself as he spat out the tea that he was drinking. And right at that moment, he realized that he was wrong. Zura could actually do that kind of thing, as he noticed that he was already giving him a smug look, which he loathed.

“O-Oi. What’s with that irritating look? Are you really trying to piss me off? And besides, how the hell are you able to come up with such a thing? You’re an idiot; you should stick to your character! Don’t suddenly grow a brain or something! Moreover, she’s not even my girlfriend!”

Katsura just shrugged it off, his smug look never leaving his face. “Heh. Gintoki, I might be an idiot to you, but in the matters of love, I am nothing but an expert! Don’t underestimate this Katsura Kotarou! You know that I have already conquered all the flags — I am not your inexperienced cherry boy anymore! I’ve already got a lot of experience!”

“Oh? You must’ve been playing a lot of gal games with Elizabeth. You’ve got some nerve there; you’re acting like an expert even though the only girls you have scored on are 2D..”

“Correction: What I play are not gal games; the only games I play are Triangle Blue and Ouka Ryouran!”

“Oh right, I forgot. Netorare, huh? Man, you’ve got some sick taste there. You even transferred your love for married women by self-inserting on those kinds of visual novels. And hey, is it just me or did you start playing those games after that incident with the Musashi-like person? Did you really find yourself losing to her dead husband?”

“No! Stop spouting nonsense, Gintoki! It’s not like that at all! And that’s right. I love NTR. Ah, I still remember the feelings that I had whenever I — no, everything is still fresh in my memory. Right…”

“Oi, Zura? Are you alright? Oi!”

_“’Akane, I love you…’ I said to her. And when she said the same thing, our relationship had finally started. After going out for four years and graduating from university, we decided to live under the same roof. I found a job at a publishing house. Akane enrolled at a vocational school as a step to realize her dream—”_

“Earth to Zura… Oi, Zura! Oi, dammit! Stop that! Stop making a fanfiction within a fanfiction! Zura!”

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura! And besides, this is not a fiction but an account of my own experiences. Now, where am I..? _’My drawing with Asato’s writing, let’s make a book together. That’s my dream.’_ ”

“Asato? Akane just called you Asato, didn’t she? So that’s why you said ‘personal experiences!’ It’s just the synopsis of a game! Which one is it, huh? Triangle Blue? Ouka Ryouran?”

_“Akane’s smile, my most precious treasure. The thing I don’t want to lose the most. No matter how busy we become, we trust each other. We love each other. I always thought these days would last forever. Until that guy came—”_

“STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP! STOP RIGHT THERE, STOP RIGHT THERE! This is just a T-rated fanfic; anything that would suggest something as explicit as netorare would make this into an M-rated fic! Don’t make the author explain herself on what netorare is! Just make it all vague and let them do some Google-fu or TV Tropes so that they would know about it!”

Katsura just laughed at this. “What are you talking about, Gintoki? Don’t you worry, I certainly wouldn’t mention something in the lines of ***** and ****, and absolutely not something as explicit as doing **** and making someone **** by ***** his own ***!”

“OIIIIIIIIIIII! YOU’VE JUST SAID IT ALREADY! You’ve already said it! Sure, it was censored but you’ve already said it, you damn moron!”

Katsura was about to reply when he was stopped by a loud sound inside his kimono. Reaching out for it, he then took out his cellphone and looked at it, before finally closing it in a hurry.

He gave a faint smile, which did not go unnoticed by the silver-haired samurai.

“Oh? What’s with the sudden change of mood, Zura? Did Ikumatsu send you a mail or something?”

Much to Gintoki’s amusement, Katsura immediately blushed a deep shade of red, which signified the obvious. This made the former’s smug smile grow even wider.

“N-No! She did not! It’s not like Ikumatsu-dono would look for me at this hour or anything! It was Elizabeth! Elizabeth just told me something about that!”

“Oooh? So Ikumatsu’s been looking for you, eh?” teased Gintoki. “At this hour? Wait, don’t tell me that you’re really staying there? Hmmm.. It seems like your relationship is improving, isn’t it? Maybe those NTR games really paid off or something.”

Katsura became even more embarrassed at this. “S-Shut up! It isn’t like that at all, Gintoki! I am just—”

“But come to think of it, netorare wouldn’t suit you anymore, right? Since it looks like you’re the one who caught the woman of another man… I think netori would suit you much better, don’t you think?”

“Silence! I don’t wanna hear another word! And just so you know, I still haven’t forgotten that I saw you and Tsukuyo-dono walking down the streets together, hand-in-hand! And I also know that you stayed in the same room together back in Hagi!”

Gintoki was baffled at what he just heard, and he had the sudden urge to strangle Katsura right away. “W-What the hell are you talking about?! How did you know that?! Y-You bastard! It isn’t what you think it is! I have no other choice!”

“Well, if you say so,” replied Katsura, despite the fact that his expression clearly revealed that he did not believe it completely. “But still, I think the reason why you’re quite depressed had a connection with Tsukuyo-dono. Tell me, did something happen to her? I haven’t seen her ever since that incident at Aburanokouji.”

“I don’t know, Zura. I really don’t know. But it’s nothing important, really. Don’t worry about it,” replied Gintoki, as he pondered on how good on guessing Zura was—he had hit the right nail on the head, after all.

Much to Gintoki’s surprise, Katsura then stood up and took a step out of the Shimura residence. He looked at Gintoki in silence.

“Well then, Gintoki.. I’ll be going now. Just drop me a message if you’re up to something; I’ll gladly help you as much as I can.”

Gintoki gave a slight nod at this, which Katsura took as a signal to finally take his leave. But before he can even leave completely, the former called for his attention.

“Thanks a lot for coming, Zura. Really.”

Katsura smiled at this. “No problem at all.”

And with that, Katsura left the Shimura residence, leaving Gintoki standing alone along the engawa, gazing at the stars above. He then gave a deep sigh, until he looked behind him as he gave notice to a certain someone who was standing behind the other side of the fusuma.

“Oi, Otae. It’s you, isn’t it? Come out already; I know that you’ve heard everything.”

Shimura Tae peeked out of the fusuma and allowed herself to come out, realizing that hiding from the silver-haired samurai would only be futile. She faced him with a concerned look, as Gintoki had noted; it was clearly visible in her expression that she was confused and surprised on what she had heard.

Tae hesitated for a bit, but relented nonetheless. “G-Gin-san… Is that true? Shin-chan and Kagura-chan’s kidnapping incident.. it’s related to a Joui faction?”

Gintoki noticed that Tae had tried her hardest to hide her worries behind her usual smile—but it still seemed off. Even though she was smiling like she always did, her eyes carried a hint of seriousness which he knew that he would be unable to escape from.

“Gin-san.. tell me everything about this. Please.”

Noticing her stiff expression, Gintoki grumbled to himself and only scratched his head in response. “It’s none of your business, you know. You shouldn’t associate yourself with this. This is my business alone—”

“What?!” she demanded furiously, angry at Gintoki’s selfish reply. “What do you mean by ‘it’s none of my business?!’ It’s also my business; it’s my brother that we’re talking about here!”

“—Is what I wanted to tell you, but I’ve already promised Shinpachi and Kagura that there won’t be any secrets among the Yorozuya anymore—and that applies to you too. And besides, even if I say that it’s none of your business, you’ll probably ignore it anyway.”

As soon as he said this, Tae beamed up and asked him, “Well then, is it true that the kidnapping of Shin-chan and Kagura-chan had something to do with a notorious Joui faction?”

“Yeah.”

“Does that incident have something to do with the burning down of Aburanokouji?”

“Maybe.”

“Are you going to fix this mess?”

“Of course!”

“Is it really true that Tsukuyo-san is your girlfriend?”

“I’ll answer that for 300 yen.”

“YOU DAMN BASTARD!” she finally exclaimed as she cannot contain her anger anymore. Without a moment’s hesitation, she immediately grabbed Gintoki on the face and held it tight, as if she was trying to crush his skull—and she did it while she still had her trademark smile on. “You aren’t answering anything! Don’t give me halfhearted answers like that! Are you really trying to mess with me, huh?! Who do you think you are, Gintokibot?! You’re not in the kotatsu, dammit!”

“C-Calm down, Otae. I’m sure Cinder wouldn’t mind something like this—”

“Like hell I’m gonna calm down! You said that you won’t be hiding something from me but what you’re doing is that you’re clearly dodging my every question! I’m gonna mince you up, you bastard of a samurai!”

Gintoki did not say anything. Tae, who had noticed this had let go of her grip on him and looked away.

“You’re just lazy to do this, aren’t you?” she finally said, which made Gintoki sweatdrop in response.

And the only sounds that were heard that night were Gintoki’s screams of agony as Otae proceeded to beat him up.

**XOXOXOX**

Gintoki was woken up the next day by Shinpachi’s loud rantings of “Gin-san, it’s already late in the morning so wake up now! We have a customer waiting for you!” that he kept on hearing from the other side of the room. Sighing to himself, he picked his nose and proceeded to grab on his usual clothes in order to replace his jinbei with it, and after splashing some water on his face, he went to the living room in order to eat breakfast. The fact that they had a customer, on the other hand, was completely forgotten.

Expecting some dark matter on the table, he secretly contemplated that Kagura had at least prepared furikake-gohan for today. They were at the Shimura residence after all, so it’s inevitable that the dreaded dark matter would make its appearance. Fortunately, once he had slid the shoji open, he realized that what he thought was right since furikake-gohan was indeed right in front of him—together with an unusual guest.

Sitting on a zabuton by the table was a young woman with black orbs and black shoulder-length hair. As soon as the woman noticed Gintoki’s presence, she immediately beamed up and stood, walking towards him.

“Sakata-dono! It’s so nice to see you again! But really, I had a hard time finding you! I went to the Yorozuya but you guys weren’t there; if it weren’t for that old lady downstairs, I wouldn’t have found you here!”

She held both of his hands as if in deep gratitude, which confused him greatly. Who the hell is this woman and why is she acting like this?

“Errrr… sorry but I really don’t remember you, miss. W-Who are you again? Why are you here? I don’t remember going out for these past few days..” He glanced at Tae who sat by the table, as she was about to get the bowl of rice that was seated beside her dark matter. “You guys are doing pranks on me again, right? I mean, I’ve got enough of those kinds of pranks, and I certainly don’t have the time to—”

The young woman just chuckled at this. “Sakata-dono, don’t be so silly! I’m Azumi, don’t you remember me? I’m one of the Hyakka!”

Gintoki blinked for a few times, trying to scan his memory for the image of the girl in front of him. Unfortunately, he had a hard time on doing so. He looked at her from head to toe, and it was obvious that she was a Hyakka. However, he still cannot remember her.

Noticing this, Shinpachi heaved a sigh and adjusted his glasses as he looked at the older man. “Gin-san, don’t you remember Azumi-san? She’s one of the Hyakka who were with you guys back when we went to the annual festival at Yoshiwara! You can see her on the first three chapters of this fanfic!”

Upon hearing that from the bespectacled boy, Gintoki seemed to have a flash of enlightenment as he finally recalled on how he met her—on a truck that was on the way towards one of the quarters of a small group of Sonjouroushi.

“Okay… I get it. I remember you now,” said Gintoki as he took off his hand that she was still holding and proceeded to sit on an empty zabuton by the table. “So… what brings you here, Azumi? And while I’m at it, where’s Tsukuyo? I haven’t seen her for days now.”

Upon the mention of the blonde kunoichi, the atmosphere had suddenly turned heavy as Azumi immediately became depressed, which confused Gintoki. He was about to ask her what’s wrong when she said, “Sakata-dono.. I have a request for you. Please, listen to me first.”

Gintoki didn’t say anything in return as Azumi started to tell them everything—from the fact that the Oniwabanshuu was teaming up with the Sonjouroushi, the fact that Uehara Zennosuke was so particularly interested on Tsukuyo, the truth behind the incident at Aburanokouji, and the reason why Tsukuyo disappeared all of a sudden. Her betrayal and the truth behind Shinpachi and Kagura’s abduction were also said as well. And despite the fact that Otae, Shinpachi and Kagura gave her a look of dejection upon hearing this, they said nothing and only waited for her to finish.

“Sakata-dono, please… our Kashira! She went to the Sonjouroushi by herself! Please stop her before it becomes too late!”

Gintoki was speechless upon hearing this. He stared at the floor as if he was in deep thought that even Shinpachi and Kagura stared back at him, waiting for his reaction. Nevertheless, they are sure that Gintoki would accept—

“Why are you telling me this? It’s none of my business. I don’t care if she faced the Sonjouroushi by herself or anything. She decided this by herself; it was her decision to leave us, so she should take responsibility for it, that’s all.”

Everyone was surprised to hear this from the Yorozuya leader. They knew that he was a bastard and a sadist, but being heartless is not one of them. Tsukuyo is their friend; how could he say something as heartless as that?

Not being able to take this any longer, Shinpachi slammed his hands upon the table in fury as he glared at Gintoki. “Gin-san! What the hell are you talking about?! Tsukuyo-san’s in danger! Don’t you care about her well-being? She’s one of us, so why are you acting like that?!”

“That’s right, Gin-chan!” agreed Kagura. “Tsukky’s in danger so we should save her! We shouldn’t abandon her like this!”

Tae, on the other hand, gave him a look of disappointment. “Gin-san…”

Gintoki just shrugged and continued to pick his nose. He had an indifferent expression on his face which surprised everyone, as the Gintoki they knew was overprotective of his friends. So… why? Why is he acting like this?

“B-But Sakata-dono..!” exclaimed Azumi. “You’re the only one who could possibly stop her from doing so before it becomes too late! You’re the only one I could possibly count on! Please reconsider, Sakata-dono!”

“Nah, forget it. It’s not gonna happen. You’re just wasting your time, so please kindly leave.”

“Gin-chan!”

“Gin-san!”

Gintoki sighed at this. “Alright. If you guys keep on pestering me like this, then I’ll be the one to go. I guess I’ll go take a bath first. Shinpachi, I leave this matter to you. Make her go away or something. We won’t accept the job.”

“S-Sakata-dono! Wait! Don’t go yet! Please, don’t abandon our Kashira! Sakata-dono!”

But before Azumi could even say anything else, Gintoki had already left, leaving her dejected and speechless. She fell on her knees and looked at the ground, unable to accept the fact that the man whom she regarded as the one who would be able to help them was the one who rejected them.

Shinpachi squatted down and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t mind that too much, Azumi-san. I’m sure Gin-san had his own reasons for doing so. Don’t worry, you still got us here—” He glanced back at Kagura and smiled at her, in which she returned. “—We are also a part of the Yorozuya. We’ll be the ones to find Tsukuyo-san, if ever Gin-san decides not to do it.”

Tears threatened to escape Azumi’s eyes, but she tried her hardest not to do so. Instead, she just gave a nod and smiled back at the two.

“Thank you so much.. Really, thank you.”

**XOXOXOX**

It was already late in the afternoon and Tsukuyo still had a hard time finding the Sonjouroushi Headquarters. She had already gotten through all of the information that she got from Azumi, she had also investigated about the group and its location by herself, and yet that certain place seemed to be missing from her sight no matter what she did. And she had to admit, it was kinda frustrating.

Add this stupid rain, which made her already horrible mood go even worse. Thanks to that, her investigation would be delayed and she wouldn’t have any other choice but to put all of her activities into a halt for today and look for a place to spend the night.

Her teeth already chattering as she continued on running to seek for the nearest shelter, she took a little detour from her supposed route as she noticed something that looked like a shrine on the other side of the street. She ran there as fast as she could; she cannot get sick after all, since it would be a big bother for her.

After climbing up the flight of stairs and passing right through the Shinto shrine’s torii, she excused herself for a bit and entered the shrine’s premises—but she realized that it was already abandoned a long time ago, since a lot of dust and cobwebs have settled itself over the place. But since she wasn’t that picky when it comes to finding a place to stay the night, she then settled herself on one corner and tried her hardest to sleep. However, such a thing is not an easy task for her as her mind wandered off on its own, her own thoughts preferring to linger over the fact that she had left Kabuki-chou without even saying anything at all to the Yorozuya.

Are they angry at her? She didn’t know. All that she knew is that she was willing to sacrifice something if it means that she would be able to achieve her objective of bringing down the Sonjouroushi. Even so, it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t care about the people around her anymore. And it also doesn’t mean that she’s not worried about them.

She’s worried about Azumi, and on what she would do if she ever finds out that she had left her alone. She’s worried on what would happen to her, since she doesn’t know where she is right now. She’s worried about Shinpachi and Kagura, since the last time she saw them was when they were still unconscious. And lastly, she’s worried about Gintoki, and on how he would react once he finds out about this.

He’ll probably hate her, most likely.

Heaving a sigh for the umpteenth time, she slowly closed her eyes and allowed herself to sleep.

“Gintoki… I hope you aren’t… angry..”

**XOXOXOX**

The moon was shining brightly in the sky.

That’s what a certain silver-haired samurai had thought once he had stepped outside the Shimura residence, obviously going to somewhere else that night. Putting on a red scarf around his neck as the coldness of the upcoming winter can already be felt, he then fixed his bokutou on his waist and was about to take a step away… that is, until he felt the presence of someone behind him.

“Gin-san, where do you think you’re going?”

He didn’t need to turn around in order to find out who that was. From the voice alone, he knew who it was already—it’s Shimura Tae, the brother of his co-worker and also the owner of this house. She faced him with a worried look on her face that Gintoki couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty on what he was about to do.

“Gin-san? Didn’t you hear me? I said, ‘Where do you think you’re going?’” she asked him again, seeing that he was unable to say anything to her earlier question. “You’re leaving, aren’t you? You’re going to look for Tsukuyo-san, right? Are you going to… hide this from them again?”

Gintoki still didn’t say a thing. He only adjusted his clothes and took a few steps forward but as Otae was about to open her mouth to protest, he stopped walking.

“I’ve promised them that there won’t be any secrets between the Yorozuya. And I don’t plan on breaking that promise,” he replied. “However, not keeping any secrets does not mean that I have to bring them along with me wherever I go. I’m not their babysitter or anything. I don’t even have the obligation to do that.” He looked at Otae, his eyes firm and resolute. “Tell them about this. I really don’t mind. Tell them as well that they are free to choose what they wanted to do. They could stay here, or they could follow me, it’s all their choice. Whatever happens though, I only have one single request…”

He turned his back on her and took a step forward.

“Tell them… that no matter what happens, they shouldn’t… die on me.”

And with that, Gintoki had left her standing alone behind him, all speechless and still pondering about what he had just said—as well as that longing tone on his voice as soon as she had mentioned the Shinigami Dayuu’s name.

She had to admit it, but she felt kinda down after realizing that fact. Even though it was still unclear to her why she felt that way, she only wished that everything would turn out to be okay in the end.

On the other hand, as soon as Gintoki took a few steps out of the gate, he then noticed the silhouette of two people—from the way they stood out in front, they seemed to be waiting for him, which brought a faint smile upon his lips.

“Oi Shinpachi, Kagura… what are you doing outside? Go back inside, it’s getting cold you know.. You don’t wanna catch a cold.”

Despite his comment, the two teenagers stood there unfazed, and continued on facing him with a serious look.

“I could ask you the same thing, Gin-san,” said Shinpachi. “What are you doing outside as well? Are you going to take a stroll or something? Or are you going to—”

“Gin-chan, are you gonna leave us again?” asked Kagura, cutting off the bespectacled boy’s sentence in the process. “You promised us that you won’t be keeping anything from us anymore, so why are you gonna do it again?”

Hearing this made Gintoki heave a deep sigh. He walked towards the two teens as he grumbled to himself, and patted them on the head in the process.

“Don’t be stupid. I ain’t keeping anything from you anymore, you morons. Well, you asked me where I’m going, right? I’m just gonna take a stroll outside… It might take me a few days before I come back, but when I do, I’m gonna bring that idiotic woman along with me.” He then took a glance at them. “Is that okay now?”

“Then we’ll come along with you, Gin-san!” exclaimed Shinpachi as he took hold of the older man’s sleeve. “We wanna go with you! We’re worried about Tsukuyo-san as well! Take us with you!”

Kagura did the same thing as well. “That’s right, Gin-chan! Aren’t we always together? We’re gonna stay with you! We’re gonna go with you!”

Gintoki was dumbfounded at their sudden declaration, but managed to get a hold of himself as he took a deep breath and faced them with a serious look. Noticing his expression, the two teens stopped on their tracks and looked at him in silence, waiting what he was about to say.

“Stay here, you two. I’ll be the one to take care of this. Leave it all to Gin-san.”

The two Yorozuya were about to open their mouths to protest, but he had beaten them to it as he continued on what he was saying.

“Stay here in Kabuki-chou. I need you guys to look after everyone while I’m gone. The gorilla might have saved me from being a criminal, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still a wanted man. And besides, we do not know what our enemy’s next move is. Do you understand?”

Kagura gripped Gintoki’s arm even tighter. “But Gin-chan, they could take care of themselves! We wanna go with you, Gin-chan! Let us stay with you!”

“Kagura-chan!” exclaimed Shinpachi as he tried to calm her down. “Gin-san has a point. Just remember what happened when Gin-san had left for Hagi back then.. We were kidnapped, remember? I don’t want that to happen to anyone else, so we have to protect them!” He faced Gintoki with a firm look. “That’s what you wanted us to do, isn’t that right, Gin-san?”

Gintoki smirked at this. “Yeah, that’s right. And besides, we’re dealing with a powerful group here, so it’s best if we become more cautious. Don’t worry, since I’ll be coming back. You won’t miss the action; I’ll let you guys kick some ass, if that’s what you want.”

“Oh yeah! We’re gonna kick some ass! Is it like this, Gin-chan?!” exclaimed Kagura as she demonstrated her point by kicking Gintoki from behind. The Yorozuya leader, in turn, screamed in pain.

“Kagura-chan! No one said about kicking one of our asses, you know! Why do you even have to demonstrate it?! Don’t ruin the serious mood that we have here!”

“Shut the hell up, you stupid megane! You’re ruining the mood as well! Don’t forget that your annoying tsukkomi played a great role on this too!”

“What did you say?!”

Before Kagura could even say her reply, Gintoki had hit them both on the head with a light karate chop, which surprised them greatly.

“Ouch! What did you do that for, Gin-chan?! That’s unfair!”

“That’s supposed to be my line! Gin-san, why did you even include me?!”

“Shut the hell up! You’re distracting me!” Gintoki exclaimed, not being able to take their banter any longer. “Listen to me. I’m gonna contact you guys no matter what happens, so be sure to be on standby alright? I’m gonna trust you guys on this one—”

“Danna, what are you doing outside at this hour? Are you gonna do something really suspicious again?”

Hearing that certain voice from behind, everyone looked towards it, only to find the Shinsengumi—Okita Sougo, Hijikata Toushirou, Kondou Isao and Yamazaki Sagaru—right in front of them. Seeing the four Shinsengumi officers made Gintoki sigh, as he realized on how troublesome it would be once they find out about the truth.

“Okita-san, please listen,” said Shinpachi. “Gin-san was just about to—”

“I’m about to take a stroll around town,” Gintoki cut him off. “I might be gone for a few days, who knows?”

Okita only smirked at this. “Oh really now? Well, since you’re so eager on taking a stroll around town, then of course you wouldn’t mind doing a little errand for us, don’t you think so too, Danna?”

Gintoki grumbled at this. “Errand? What kind of troublesome things are you forcing upon me, you damn tax robbers?”

“Don’t you dare complain, Yorozuya,” said Hijikata as he took out a cigarette from his pocket. “Your freedom doesn’t come as cheap, you know. And besides, the main reason why we vouched for your freedom is that we still need you to do some odd jobs for us.”

“Odd jobs? Hah, I knew it. So that’s why it seemed so suspicious that you guys were actually defending me back then,” trailed off Gintoki, annoyed. “Well then, what will I do?”

Hijikata suddenly gave him a weird metallic object, which confused Gintoki. He took a closer look at it. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was just a small object that looked like a round, weird-looking pin. “What the hell is this?” he finally asked. “What am I going to do with this?”

“Make sure to keep it on your person at all times,” replied Hijikata. “That’s a communication device. Since you’re the one with the most contact with the Sonjouroushi anyway, then I’m sure that you’re going to cross paths again with them sooner or later. Well, just do your usual stuff. And remember to report to us about your situation—you are still under surveillance by the Shinsengumi, after all.”

Gintoki raised his eyebrow. “Oi, oi. What’s wrong with you guys, huh? Why are you suddenly interested on that group? And hell, how did you even find out about them?”

“The Shinsengumi are focused on arresting terrorist groups, Yorozuya,” explained Kondou. “It’s our job.”

Seeing that he had no other options, Gintoki sighed and accepted the offer. He then turned his back on them, and started to walk downtown.

“Man, so troublesome,” he whispered to himself as he grumbled, his hand finding its way towards his silver hair. He sighed.

“I just hope you still haven’t done anything reckless yet, Tsukuyo. . .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Asakusa - a district in Tokyo (Edo) which was the major entertainment district in the area for the most of the twentieth century. 
> 
> torii - is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred.
> 
> jinbei - is a kind of traditional clothing worn during summer which are usually worn as a form of nightwear or house wear.
> 
> NTR - Netorare. Your wife/ lover being stolen from you. These are eroge (erotic games / visual novels) where someone steals the heroine away from the protagonist (the player). These types of games are designed to cause the player to have sexual jealousy. In page 7, Lesson 431, Zura's line, "What I like is not married women; it's unfaithful wives!" was somewhat changed in the scanlation. In the original, what he said is, "What I like is not married women; just so you know, I happen to like NTR!"
> 
> Triangle Blue - is an NTR game.
> 
> Ouka Ryouran - is also an NTR game.
> 
> Netori - You stealing the wife/lover of someone else. These are games where the protagonist (the player) steals the lover / wife of someone else.
> 
> Furikake-gohan – Furikake is a dry Japanese condiment meant to be sprinkled on rice. Furikake-gohan is a rice meal sprinkled with furikake.
> 
> Laputa – a Studio Ghibli film, “Laputa: The Castle in the Sky.” Sorachi loves this film and has mentioned it multiple times on his interviews.
> 
> Gintokibot – this is the bot designed after Gintoki in the kotatsu (the chat function) of Yorozuya Soul forums. The lines said by Gintoki when Tae asked him were the usual replies of Gintokibot. Yorozuya Soul Forums, by the way, was created and maintained by the almighty Cinder. XD


	16. It is a well-known fact that searching for someone has never been easy, you bastard!

Shimura Tae felt a bit lonely at that moment. She was alone early that morning as Shin-chan, her brother, had gone to the Yorozuya earlier in order to check up on Kagura. The said Yato had refused her invitation to stay at their house, despite the fact that she was alone at the Yorozuya, with the silver-haired samurai nowhere to be found. And thus, Shinpachi had no other choice but to take care of her until Gintoki comes back.

Taking a sip out of her tea while lazily flipping through random channels on TV, she then settled for a morning news program and saw Ketsuno Ana, the weather girl which Gintoki had claimed to be his one true love, doing a weather forecast. And for some unknown reason, Tae felt a little bit melancholic as she remembered the look on Gintoki’s face yesterday—it was the first time she had ever seen him look like that, after all.

Why did he look so lonely when she had mentioned Tsukuyo’s name? Isn’t he in love with Ketsuno Ana? He doesn’t… like Tsukuyo-san, does he? And why the hell is she having this kind of thoughts anyway?! She doesn’t care about the guy, and she doesn’t give a damn on who he likes!

She slapped her cheeks with her two hands in a futile attempt to wake herself up from her daydream. Deciding that she had better things to think about, she then grabbed her cup of tea once again and as she blew off the steam, she noticed that a tea stalk was floating upright atop of it.

“Ah… chabashira! Good thing that I’m alone right now… no one would be able to steal my luck away from me!”

But she stopped as soon as she saw that the stalk had sunk, which meant that all her good luck had gotten away. Sweat trickled down her face.

She just laughed idly at this. “W-Well, there’s no way those kinds of superstitions are true anyway… I mean, these are just superstitions. There’s just no way. There’s just—”

Adjusting herself on a zabuton, she was then startled to hear a faint snapping sound, only to find out that her geta strap was broken. The fact that she saw a black cat cross along her backyard only added to her ire.

“W-Whoa… why do these kinds of omens kept on appearing right now? Is it like this, huh? Am I cursed? What the hell’s going to happen?!”

Convincing herself that everything is fine and that superstitions aren’t true anyway, she then switched to another channel only to find something which she didn’t ever expect.

_[The authorities still haven’t resolved the things regarding the bombing of Aburanokouji and the assassination of the roju, Ii Masayasu. However, there have been speculations about the suspect due to the fact that a worn-out bokutou, which had been used as a weapon in order to kill the roju, was found at the scene of the crime—]_

Tae was speechless as soon as she saw this. News about the incident at Aburanokouji as well as the death of the roju had been leaked to the media, despite the fact that it was originally a top secret information. This is the worst case scenario, and it just happened right when Gintoki had gone somewhere else. And to top it off, a bokutou with the words ‘Lake Touya’ engraved in it had been found on the scene of the crime. Just what the hell is going on?

_[The alleged suspect, a former Jouishishi-turned-NEET samurai named Sakata Gintoki was currently being chased by the authorities. It was also said that the alleged suspect had some connections with the Shinsengumi and that—]_

Unable to take the weight of the situation any longer, Tae wasted no time as she had turned off the television and stared at the ceiling.

She then heaved a deep sigh.

“Just… what the heck is this..?”

**XOXOXOX**

“Katakuriko, I leave all the matters regarding the inauguration of the Castle in the Sky to you. I believe that entrusting it to you would be the best choice.”

“Just leave it to me, Sho-chan. Leave it to me and sit there like you always do. I’ll be the one in charge.”

And with that, Matsudaira Katakuriko had diverted his gaze towards the Shinsengumi Commander and Vice-Commander who were sitting right in front of him. They are currently at the National Police Headquarters since the old man had instructed them to do so, but they did not expect the presence of the Seiitai Shogun, Tokugawa Shigeshige, on this meeting.

Kondou Isao playfully scratched his head in confusion as he gave them an awkward chuckle. “Uh… Tottsuan? Why is Ue-sama in here?” he asked the old man, but the said man did not even move an inch, as if acting like he hasn’t heard anything. “Oi, Tottsuan! Why is Ue-sama in here? And Castle in the Sky…? Isn’t that.. Miyazaki-sensei’s—”

“Oi, gorilla. Stop being picky over the details,” replied Matsudaira. “I’ve brought Sho-chan here with me today since he wanted to observe police activities. And the inauguration of the Castle in the Sky, Naputa—that’s what we’re about to talk today.”

“Naputa? Is that supposed to be a parody of Laputa? But Castle in the Sky is no other than Laputa, isn’t it?” He turned to Hijikata. “Isn’t that right, Toushi?”

Hijikata scoffed at this. “Laputa this, Laputa that… I don’t know why the gorilla mangaka of Gintama loved to mention a lot of Studio Ghibli titles, but the only thing I wanted to say is that… of all titles to parody, why Laputa?! Why didn’t you make it Tonari no Totoro instead?! So Pedoro is enough for you, huh?!”

“Toushi! Your personality traits are getting mixed! And besides, your preferences aren’t important here! And don’t bash Laputa! Sheeta will cry, you know!”

“Who cares about Sheeta?! It’s not as if she’s a weird-looking pink fish who’ll turn into a little girl! She can go to the Alps with Heidi for all I care!”

“Peter! Don’t bash Sheeta! And besides, Heidi isn’t a Studio Ghibli film! Didn’t Sorachi say that watching Laputa became his inspiration to start creating manga?!”

“Who the hell is Peter?! I’m not Peter, and I’m not Sousuke either!”

“What?! But aren’t you going to say Fumoffu?!”

“That’s a different kind of Sousuke! The Sousuke that I’m talking about is a Ghibli kid!”

Before they knew it, a bullet had suddenly made its way between them. Fortunately, they were able to dodge it just in time.

Matsudaira blew on the tip of his gun. “Oi, oi, are you ignoring me, huh?! You’re ignoring me, aren’t you?! And I don’t care about Laputa or whatever, but you’ve heard about it already, right? I’ll give you three seconds in order to tell me what you guys know.”

He pointed the gun towards them and shot two bullets. “ONE!”

“What happened to two and three?!”

Matsudaira just shrugged at this. “A man only needs to count to one in order for him to survive.” He pointed the gun at Hijikata. “Oi, you. Report to us about this so-called Naputa.”

Seeing that he had no other choice but to comply, Hijikata did what he was told. “Well, based on the reports that I’ve found, the Castle in the Sky, codename Naputa, is going to be inaugurated a few days from now. Naputa is a huge flying ship in the shape of a castle that was made as a joint project between the Bakufu and the Amanto. It serves as the official meeting place between the two parties and if I remember correctly, it is supposed to be a sign of the renewal of the treaty between—”

Matsudaira shot him with his gun again, which made Hijikata stop on his tracks. “Okay, stop right there, Toushi. You’ve said too much, it’s a pain to read.”

“Aren’t you the one who said to report to you?! And why the hell is it a pain to read? You’re not going to read it, the readers are!”

Kondou hushed Hijikata. “Toushi, calm down. The readers already know that this is going to be long, and besides, this fic is absurdly long anyway..”

“I don’t care about that!”

All of a sudden, the Shogun harrumphed in order to get their attention, into which he succeeded. And because of this, Matsudaira remembered the true reason on why he had called the Shinsengumi for a meeting.

“Anyway, since you know about the Naputa then this will be a lot easier for me to explain. Listen up. During the inauguration, you’ve gotta protect the Shogun. Failing to do this means that your heads will roll on the ground. Got it?”

“No, we don’t get it, Tottsuan!” exclaimed Kondou. “Didn’t you say that you’ll explain? Where is the explanation?!”

“Shut up! Kondou, a man of few words is much more manly than a noisy man like you. Remember that.”

“But Tottsuan!”

Before Kondou can even protest, Matsudaira then ended the meeting and thus, the two Shinsengumi were asked to leave the room and wait outside. But just as they were walking down the grounds in order to go back to the Shinsengumi Headquarters, a Shinsengumi member rushed towards them and asked for their attention, only for the two Shinsengumi higher-ups to be surprised at what they just heard.

“Kyoukuchou, Fukuchou, the thing about Sakata-san… it was just leaked to the media!”

**XOXOXOX**

The whole place was unknown to her, but that didn’t stop Tsukuyo from trudging throughout the woods in order to find the Sonjouroushi Headquarters. It was the latest piece of information that she had found ever since yesterday—she heard from one of the passersby that in the heart of the forest lives a group of mercenaries who are believed to be Joui. Taking that fact as a starting point for her investigation, she then went to a nearby town in order to find them as she supposed that the group might have had a connection with the Sonjouroushi, or better yet, that group might be the Sonjouroushi itself.

And thus, that fact brought her here in the woods, trekking the mountain as she still cannot find the said hut which was said to be the quarters of that group.

Even though she was busy doing her own thing, her mind had also wandered off elsewhere as she continued on thinking about the Yorozuya. Realizing that thinking about them won’t help ease the situation that she was in, she closed her eyes in order to concentrate but instead of being focused, she found herself crashing towards… someone smaller than her.

“Ouch!”

Tsukuyo blinked for a few times, still unable to believe what she had just seen. In front of her was a crying little girl who had her hair disheveled, had bruises all over her body, and had her clothes all dirty and torn. The said girl gave her a pleading look, as if saying that she needed her help right away. Needless to say, Tsukuyo had all her attention taken away by her.

She reached out a hand to the girl and tried to fix her clothing. “What’s the matter? Your parents must’ve been looking for you. Come on, I’ll bring you to the nearest village and—”

She stopped on her tracks when the girl had suddenly grabbed her sleeve. Noticing this, she then looked at the girl only to meet her own caramel eyes staring at her intently.

Tsukuyo smiled at her. “What is it?”

“Onee-san,” said the girl, her voice weak and trembling. “Please… help me.”

The Shinigami Dayuu was taken aback by this. “W-What?”

“I… please—”

Before she knew it, the girl had suddenly fainted. Tending to her as fast as she could, she then noticed that she was suffering from a high fever, and that she was desperately gasping for air.

Without even giving it a second thought, Tsukuyo carried the girl towards the nearest downtown village.

**XOXOXOX**

“She’s okay now. Her fever’s steadily going down as well, though I think she might have suffered from extreme fatigue and hunger. Just let her rest for a bit and she’ll be fine.”

Hearing this from the young doctor in the nearby village, Tsukuyo heaved a sigh of relief as she realized that the young girl from earlier was all okay now. She was extremely worried when she had found her in the woods, after all.

Since she still hadn’t found her parents yet, she still cannot leave her and thus, it means that she had to put all of her activities into a halt. She’d gotta admit, even though continuing her investigation was her utmost priority, she still cannot ignore something like this.

…And besides, she’s sure that he’ll do the same thing as well.

Thanking the doctor for all his help, she then went inside the room where the young girl was staying. But as soon as she entered the room, she was surprised to find the girl awake, panicking as if she was in fear of her.

“O-Oi, calm down. I’m not going to do anything to you. I’m a good person, I won’t hurt you.”

The girl shook her head. Realizing that she was still confused, Tsukuyo went towards the girl and patted her on the head. Fortunately, this made the girl calm down and her ragged breath was already turning to slow, steady breaths. This fact made Tsukuyo smile.

“Have you calmed down now?”

She nodded her head. “Y-You.. you’re the onee-san from earlier, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” replied the older woman. “My name’s Tsukuyo. You are?”

“C-Chiyo,” came the girl’s weak reply. She looked at Tsukuyo and held her hand as if she was trying to convince her of something.

Tsukuyo just stared at her in silence. “W-What..?”

“Onee-san, you’re a ninja, right?” asked Chiyo, which startled the blonde kunoichi. “I saw you holding a kunai earlier. You’re a ninja, right?!”

The Shinigami Dayuu only laughed idly at this. “I..I guess you can call me that. Why?”

“You can beat bad guys, right? You’re strong, right?”

“W-Why are you asking those kinds of questions? W-Well, I guess I’m strong enough to handle an army or two. Why do you ask?”

“You can perform Kagebunshin no Jutsu too, right?”

Tsukuyo sweatdropped at this. “J-Just what do you take ninjas for…? Of course I can’t do that. I don’t even end my sentences with –dattebayo. You read too much JUMP!”

“I.. I guess I can settle with that,” said Chiyo with a sullen face, which irritated the Courtesan of Death.

“Oi, what the hell’s with that kind of face? Is that the face you’re going to pull when asking favors from your elders?!”

“But onee-san, I heard that ninjas are supposed to have powers and the like! How can you beat up bad guys when you can’t even do rasengan? At least you should have Bankai or something!”

“As I said, you read too much JUMP! And besides, that last sentence of yours was completely off! Bankai is from another series!”

“But onee—” Chiyo was cut off on what she was saying when Tsukuyo suddenly gave a slight chuckle, which confused her greatly. “Onee-san? What’s wrong?”

“Huh? N-No, it’s nothing,” she replied, startled. “You just reminded me of a man I know. He is addicted to JUMP just like you, and we often get into senseless arguments just like this.” She smiled at her. “Don’t worry though. Even though I look like this, I can beat up those guys without a sweat. The gorilla is not like his drinking buddy who always makes his main character resort to using Bankai, even though it was supposed to be the most ultimate move.”

“Onee-san, you just bashed Kubo-sensei just now, didn’t you? You just bashed him right in front of me, didn’t you?”

“Don’t mind that,” she shrugged. “Well then, what is it that you wanted to tell me?”

And with that question, the mood had suddenly changed when Chiyo started to look troubled and anxious.

“Onee-san… since you’re a ninja, can you please help me save my brother?”

Tsukuyo was taken aback by this. “Y-Your brother..?”

“Yeah. My brother… my brother was taken captive by some bandits in the forest. I need to save him! W-Who knows what may happen to him..? I’m worried about him, those people might’ve done something to—”

Tsukuyo stopped her before she can even be taken over by her emotions. As soon as she heard that her brother was taken by the bandits in the forest, she immediately became interested in it. Based on her investigation, there was only a single group that lives in that forest—so it is most likely that it is the group of mercenaries which she had suspected to be members of the Sonjouroushi.

“Explain it to me. What about your brother? Why was he taken captive? Who are the ones who took him?”

And it is then when the eight-year old Chiyo had told her everything. According to her, she and her brother were just playing in the nearby forest when they accidentally stumbled upon their quarters. She didn’t know why they suddenly became hostile towards them, and before they knew it, they were tied up and taken captive. There was one time when they were about to escape, but she was the only one who was able to do it successfully.

Hearing this story made Tsukuyo anxious. She did not know why, but if it was indeed the Sonjouroushi who was staying in that quarters, then why do they have to react like that when two kids have stumbled upon there? It doesn’t make sense, unless…

…Unless they are hiding something.

“Okay then, understood,” she said, her resolve resolute. “I’ll help you on rescuing your brother.”

**XOXOXOX**

After being led by Chiyo to the hut of the said group who held her brother hostage, Tsukuyo could not help but stare listlessly on what she had seen. They were only a few meters away from the said hut and they weren’t even seen yet, and even though she accepted Chiyo’s request partly because the group that took her brother is most likely the same one whose quarters she was trying to find a while ago, the fact that the hut looked so shabby and that it only got about a dozen people in it made her feel a bit skeptic about this.

She’s looking for the Sonjouroushi. And by the looks of it, the group doesn’t even look like they’re Joui—they look like an ordinary group of bandits. Heck, even the quarters of the Benigumoto is bigger and more ominous compared to this! Needless to say, she still had a mission to do: to save Chiyo’s brother.

She was about to infiltrate the premises when Chiyo had suddenly tugged the sleeve of her kimono.

“Onee-san, don’t go there yet. I… I wanna be the one to fight them.”

“W-What kind of unreasonable request was that? Bringing you along is one thing, but making you fight them is just ridiculous! And besides, how on Earth are you going to fight them?”

Chiyo looked depressed upon hearing this from her, which made Tsukuyo feel terrible. “Alright, I understand,” she finally said. “I’ll let you fight alongside me. But don’t do anything reckless alright?”

The young girl nodded her head and beamed at her. “Thank you so much, onee-san! Really, thank you!”

Tsukuyo slowly got out of hiding and went towards the quarters. But before she could even set a foot on it, she stopped on her tracks and faced Chiyo with a serious look.

“Chiyo, listen to me. I’ll make rescuing your brother my priority. However, I have another agenda towards this group as well. That’s why as soon as I free your brother, run away as fast as you can—leave me behind. I’ll manage.”

“What?! Onee-san, how could you even say—”

“Stop. Just believe in me, okay?”

Seeing that anything that she’ll say won’t ever change her mind, Chiyo was left with no other choices but to agree. And before she knew it, they were already inside the quarters, facing the whole group of bandits—or alleged Sonjouroushi, even.

“H-Hi, I’m a mercenary from Yoshiwara, and we were just looking for a place to stay. If it’s okay, I hope you guys don’t mind if we stay the night here.”

The bandits had their mouths agape as soon as they saw Tsukuyo on the front door. Without a second thought, everyone gathered around her like moths to a fire, and this particular fact creeped out Chiyo.

“W-What the hell is this? Onee-san, those guys are creepy! They look like sexually-frustrated otaku who haven’t seen a woman for ages! Forget about saving someone, we’re the ones who won’t be safe here!”

But Tsukuyo did not take heed of this and only took a few steps forward. “I don’t want to impose on you guys, but I guess this would suffice, right?”

And with that, Tsukuyo took out a lotion—the kind that is commonly used in Yoshiwara—and placed it on one of the bandit’s hands. The bandit, on the other hand, turned beet red at the fact that a beautiful woman had just touched his hand.

The guys behind him stuttered. “T-This is… Is this the legendary lotion that is usually seen at Yoshiwara? That lotion that is commonly found on soaplands and—”

“Aniki!” one of the bandits exclaimed, “Look at her! She has a kid beside her!”

“Ah, you’re right! No way! She’s—”

Tsukuyo only bit on her kiseru and looked away, as if shyly looking away from them. “I hope we’ll be able to use the lotion tonight. We shall have an overextended play—I believe it would be rough. Batting balls over the field would leave someone sore, isn’t it? B-But… it’s not like I have any other choice. Consider yourself lucky, okay..? I really.. don’t wanna do it. Don’t be so full of yourself!”

The men became flustered at this, with all of them being unable to control their excitement any longer.

“S-She’s—”

“..A tsundere…!”

“She’s the legendary tsundere courtesan from Yoshiwara! They say that she’s stoic all the time, but now she’s like this!”

“Oh my god, my heart!”

Chiyo sweatdropped at this. “O-Oi. Is this even alright? I’m a minor. Is this joke even acceptable? I’m right here, you know!”

But no one seemed to care as the guys were all excited at Tsukuyo’s words. They were red and sweaty all over, and from the looks of it, they looked like dirty old men who got hard over a picture of an idol and got too much excited over pillows and handshake events.

Fortunately for the girls, things were going their way as the men seemed to be buying their story.

“Aniki! Let them stay for a while!”

“No, let them stay forever! And we will have a lifetime supply of lotion!”

“Is lotion the only thing you want? Did the lotion alone make you excited?”

“Of course not! The fact that we’re having a batting session tonight is the one that makes me excited!”

“If you just wanna play baseball, then you could just bat the night away and fap to your porno!”

“No! I’ll be using my bat in full force tonight! The only thing that I’ll be using is my bat down there!”

“No, it’s me!”

“Back off, it would be me!”

And as everyone argued to themselves, Tsukuyo harrumphed in order to get their attention. “You guys wanna have a shot with me tonight, right?”

“Right!” the men exclaimed.

“Then first, all you’ve gotta do is to decide the ranking with a truth or dare match. Segregate into two teams, and the first team to defeat all the members of the other team shall be the one to have the chance to have a batting session.”

“Beat each other up?! Why did a batting session suddenly turn into something like Tenkaiichi Budokai?!”

“You guys will be a part of the race of the Puklipo. You came from Astoltia and your goal is to reach the Tantegel Castle. The first one to reach the castle will be the one to win!”

“DQ?! Is this DQ?! Why Dragon Quest?! And heck, those are mixed up!”

“Upon reaching Tantegel Castle, you need to defeat the final boss, Mortamor.”

“Mortamor?! If we defeat Mortamor then we would be ambushed by Nokturnus! He will attack us from behind and transform us into Elders!”

Tsukuyo still kept her stoic expression as she continued. “By the way, all of you will start as Goowains.”

“Why are we a slime?!”

“A-Aren’t you guys going to do it…?” she finally asked, acting as if she’s hurt by their comments. And upon seeing this, the dirty old men got even more excited as their hit points started to wane over.

“S-SO… SO MOE!”

“Why are you saying that?!” yelled Chiyo. “Aren’t you bandits?! Stick to your character! You’re degrading yourselves into being a NEET Akiba-kei otaku!”

And finally winning their hearts over, the dirty old men started to beat each other up, while Tsukuyo finally did her mission of finding out more about the group. She chatted with them and observed them intently, and she was somehow disappointed that she hadn’t found any connection between them and the Sonjouroushi. All that she found out was that they were a group of bandits who were about to transport illegal drugs to Edo, and that they were discussing on how they will raid the nearby village.

“But aniki, won’t it be easier for us if we just raid the main house by ourselves?” one of them asked their so-called ‘aniki’, whom she supposed was the leader of the group. “Why should we even go through such lengths?”

“Are you stupid or what? If we do it as you like, then we would be found out by them in no time! And besides, we have something like this here,” he replied, showing his subordinate a blueprint of something she hadn’t seen before.

Tsukuyo felt disgusted on what she had seen. This group was clearly just a small faction, and from the looks of it, they were trying to rebel against the main group. And if her hunch was right, then that blueprint is the key to the main group’s downfall, since they were so keen about it.

The subordinate looked surprised. “W-What is that, aniki? Is that what I think it is?”

“Yeah,” confirmed the so-called ‘aniki.’ “If we use this against them, then they won’t be a match for us. This will surely make them pay for what they did.”

Much to Tsukuyo’s surprise, the older man gave her a sharp look. “What are you doing here, girlie? Scram off! This is a private matter!”

Tsukuyo gave an awkward laugh. “Ah.. errr… is that so? Well then, I better serve some drinks to the others..”

And with that sentence, she finally walked away and tended to the other guys. While she served them some drinks and leeched off some information, she also looked for Chiyo’s missing brother. Luckily for her, she had found him inside a secret underground chamber inside the quarters when she was told to stock up on some drinks. Without wasting a second, she immediately called for Chiyo who was standing at the corner and told her to go with her as soon as she can.

Upon seeing her brother, Chiyo cried in happiness and ran up to him, and they greeted each other with a warm embrace.

“Nee-chan!”

“Ryou-chan!” exclaimed Chiyo as she cried in her brother’s arms. “Ryou-chan, thank goodness you’re safe!”

Tsukuyo felt a smile creep on her lips as soon as she saw the two siblings commence their tearful reunion. However, before they knew it, someone had noticed them sneaking towards the room earlier.

“Y-You… I knew it,” said the bandit whose blonde pompadour was disheveled from being beaten up a while ago. “You guys are spies, aren’t you? Who had sent you here? First, those kids, then now a woman like you… We, the Sonjouroushi, won’t be fooled by the likes of you!”

Tsukuyo felt alarmed as soon as she heard the name of the group which she had been looking for. Her earlier hunch was right—that group was indeed a part of the Sonjouroushi. The looming danger that may befall them upon their discovery had tingled her senses, and as soon as she realized that the two children might be in danger, she then faced them with a serious look, which surprised the two.

“Chiyo, take your brother and run away,” she commanded them. “I’ll be taking care of these idiots.”

“W-What? No way, I won’t leave you behind, onee-san!” exclaimed Chiyo as she tightened her hold upon her brother. “We won’t leave without you! I couldn’t possibly—”

She gave her a piercing glare.

“Chiyo.”

“W-What..?”

“You believe in me, don’t you?”

Faced with that kind of question, the girl was left with no other choice but to do it. She gritted her teeth. She was in tears when she pulled her brother towards her and sprinted off. Tsukuyo, in turn, gave a smirk as soon as she saw the retreating figure of the two kids.

“Well then, now that there’s no one to distract us, I guess I have to be more frank about my real motive here today.”

The Sonjouroushi guy just smirked back. “Oh, revealing your true colors now, aren’t we? Should I kill you right now?”

Before the man could even move a finger, a barrage of kunai had already found its way towards his whole body, which rendered him immobile. He tried to spit at her while she walked towards him, but she dodged it.

“W-What the hell do you want..?” the guy demanded.

“You guys are with the Sonjouroushi, aren’t you?”

“So what if we are?”

“Tell me on where I could find their headquarters.”

The man had stubbornly shrugged and looked away, which only irritated the Shinigami Courtesan. And as if a sudden flash of realization had hit her, she remembered the conversation between the two Sonjouroushi members earlier.

W-What is that, aniki? Is that what I think it is?

That suspicious blueprint.

Yeah. If we use this against them, then they won’t be a match for us. This will surely make them pay for what they did.

That blueprint… which was supposed to be the key to the Sonjouroushi’s downfall.

Tsukuyo smirked to herself. It seems that going here wasn’t pointless after all.

Without wasting another second, she dashed off upstairs where most of the people had stayed. They lay down wasted on the ground, drunk and spent from all the merrymaking that they did earlier that day. Remembering that the one who had the blueprint was the one who was called ‘aniki,’ she looked for him everywhere, only to find herself in the middle of a group of Sonjouroushi.

The man who was referred to as ‘aniki’ still held the blueprint on his hands.

“You… I just knew that you were no ordinary mercenary. Who the hell are you?! Introduce yourself!”

Tsukuyo still kept her stoic expression and only held her kunai and her tantou tightly on her hands. “I am the leader of the Hyakka, the guardian of Yoshiwara—the Shinigami Dayuu, Tsukuyo. I have come here for one thing: the downfall of the Sonjouroushi. And since I’ve found out that we have the same goal, I hope that you will cooperate with me.”

There was an eerie silence which made her unsettled, but she did not take heed of it as she was focused on her mission. But as expected, they didn’t even believe her.

“And what do you want for that, then?” they asked her.

“I want you to give me that blueprint,” she replied. “That wouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”

“Are you kidding me? There’s no way we’ll gonna do that!” exclaimed the so-called ‘aniki.’ And before Tsukuyo can even say another word, she realized that the group members had surrounded her, all of them staring intently at their enemy.

“Do you even realize the situation that you’re in?”

Tsukuyo only took out her kiseru and took a smoke.

“I could say the same thing to you as well. Do you really realize the situation that you’re in?”

The Sonjouroushi members were enraged. Without wasting another second, all of them had attacked her all at the same time—but Tsukuyo was faster than them since she had already attacked them using her weapons, making them fall one by one.

The aniki of the group was surprised at this. And in desperation, he summoned someone to get the blueprint and bring it away from the quarters. The subordinate followed suit, and noticing this, Tsukuyo chased after him.

The man continued on running, but unfortunately for him, he was too slow as compared to the speed of the Courtesan of Death. And before he knew it, Tsukuyo was catching up on him. He was running out of options.

And then it started to rain.

Using the blessing of nature to his advantage, the man had tried to change his direction, but before he could even do that, he stumbled and fell on his tracks, with the blueprint flying out of his hands.

Tsukuyo saw the blueprint fall out of his hands—and down the small cliff. Unfortunately, she was too focused on the blueprint that everything else was a blur, and thus, she was unable to realize the reality of her situation.

She fell down a small cliff.

But despite that, she still managed to get her hands on the blueprint and knowing that certain fact, she hid it inside her kimono. However, it was until then that she had finally realized that she had indeed fallen down somewhere deep in the heart of the forest. She was injured and wounded, her head was bleeding and her vision was blurry. The droplets of rain were cold against her skin as well.

And it was then when she had finally realized the bitter truth.

“Am I… really gonna die like this..? Without even… accomplishing anything…?”

Tears started to fall down her cheeks, with the flowing rain washing it away.

“..Without even… seeing them… for one last time…?”

She bit her lip. This is bad. Thinking of such negative thoughts will really make her die. She can’t die yet. At least not until she had fixed her mess. Not until she had made sure that Hinowa, Seita and the people of Yoshiwara are all living in peace. Not until she had paid back the kindness that the people of Kabuki-chou had given her. Not until she saw the Yorozuya again. Not until… she saw him.

Her whole body trembled. She tried to move her hand, but it was futile. She was too weak to even do anything. What happened to her? With this much rain, she did not have the slightest idea. Did she lose so much blood that she wasn’t thinking straight anymore?

_N-No… this can’t be happening…_

_Is this… really the end…?_

“No, it isn’t the end. Don’t give up, Tsukuyo. Hang on!”

Accompanied by those words, she felt someone approach her and carry her in his arms. And even though she was unable to see who it was, she felt a familiar presence… and a familiar voice.

“I’ll get you out of here, so don’t die on me! Do you understand? Don’t you dare die on me!”

And it was then when she had completely lost consciousness, the identity of the man carrying her still unknown.

**XOXOXOX**

She felt weak.

That was what Tsukuyo had felt at that time as soon as she had slowly regained consciousness. She still hadn’t opened her eyes yet, but she could feel that she was somehow in a different place as compared to before.

As far as she can remember, she was chasing a Sonjouroushi member on the woods since he had escaped with that important blueprint—the thing which was said to cause the downfall of the Sonjouroushi. And somehow, that blueprint fell on the cliff and she ran after it in order to catch it. Even though her memory was kind of blurry, she was sure that she had managed to secure it. It was inside her kimono, if she remembered correctly.

Realizing that there was no more reason for her to be troubled as she had already secured her goal, she supposed that she doesn’t have to move that much anymore. She was exhausted. And because of that, this warm and comfortable sensation which she is feeling right now is priceless, even more so than gold itself.

Yes indeed. Even more so than gold itself.

Since as soon as she had opened her eyes, what greeted her was the sight of shimmering silver hair.

She blinked.

From what she can recall, after securing the blueprint, she had passed out in the middle of the forest, weak and injured from the impact of her fall. But right now, she found herself face-to-face with a silver-haired man, and much to her surprise, she was tucked comfortably beside him, with the both of them sharing his white yukata to shield themselves from the sheer cold. And from the looks of it, they were inside a small cave, with only a light coming from a makeshift bonfire serving as their source of heat.

She closed her eyes, unable to make sense of the situation that she was currently in.

Why is Gintoki with her? She just couldn’t believe it. She was sure that she went to that village alone. She was sure that no one knew where she was. She was sure that Gintoki was lying lazily on his sofa and was busy reading JUMP at home. She was so sure of that. And so… why is he here?

And it was then when she had come to a conclusion—that it was all just a dream. She might’ve been dreaming of Gintoki because of the guilt caused by being unable to say anything to him back then. She might’ve been dreaming of him because she was thinking of him too much. Yeah. It’s probably just a figment of her imagination, and because of extreme fatigue, she was hallucinating and was having visions of him.

But still, she got to admit, her imagination sure does know how to do its job well. It’s painfully realistic. And even though she knew that she was only imagining things, she was happy to see Gintoki.

No.

She yearned to see him. And finally seeing him this close to her made her heart flutter in joy. Seeing him made her feel relaxed. Seeing him made all of her worries disappear, making herself more at ease. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she liked the thought of him being next to her.

It might be her dizziness talking, but somehow she felt really comfortable beside him. Was he always this warm..? Was her imagination really capable of something as realistic as this? She thought of many things similar to this particular train of thought, but she did not take heed of it as she continued on convincing herself that it was just a dream.

Until… she found herself staring at his face.

She looked closely at his facial features, and she realized that he didn’t look that bad after all—or better yet, she had finally admitted to herself that Gintoki is one of those genuine physically attractive males of the human species. Well, that’s to be expected anyway, since despite his claims of being unpopular, he was extremely popular inside and outside the series.

He nodded ever so slightly as he slept, and Tsukuyo could not help but to let out a slight chuckle at the sight of it. She didn’t know why, but she found it quite cute. Why is that..?

And it was then when a particular question had surfaced on her mind.

If she reached out her hand to him… if she touched his face with her two hands… if she brought her own face closer to his… what would she feel? What would he feel? Her mind was filled with these kinds of questions, and before she knew it, she was already doing one of those—since her hand had already cupped his face…

And she… she somehow suddenly had that strong urge to ki—

“Hnnngg..? W-What the..?”

And the sound of his voice snapped her back to reality. That deep, masculine voice of his brought her back to her senses, and she realized that it was not a dream at all—this is reality.

So that means… that she did all of that earlier to the real him.

She turned beet red in embarrassment upon that realization, and without a second thought, she immediately attacked the still-drowsy Gintoki with her kunais.

Gintoki shot wide awake at this and glared at her, blood oozing out of his head from the impact of her attack.

“What the hell is your problem?!” he furiously demanded. “Is this how you guys wake up each other in Yoshiwara?! I haven’t even done a single thing to warrant this kind of treatment, oi!”

“I could say the same thing to you! What the hell are you doing here?!” she growled back, trying her hardest to hide her earlier embarrassment. “And why did you do something like this? Have you got no shame?!”

“Huh? The hell are you talking about?”

Tsukuyo became even more flustered at this. “Y-You… you placed us in this awkward position without me knowing anything… y-you… you..!”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied, staring at her with a blank look on his face. “What do you mean by awkward position? Are you saying that you’re that bothered by the fact that we’ve shared my yukata in order to shield us from the cold?”

“W-What..? N-No, I’m not! I’m not bothered by that! And I’m not even bothered one bit by the fact that I found myself waking up next to you with such proximity! I’m not—”

“Oh, is that it? You’re embarrassed since I’m too close to you, isn’t it? But haven’t we done worse? I mean, back in Hagi you were even so docile that—”

“S-Shut up! You sexual harasser!”

“Huh? The hell is with that? I’m not like that! And besides, you don’t count as a woman anymore, so why are you so bothered by that? Didn’t you say that you’ve already abandoned your femininity?”

“This and that are completely different matters! And besides, why are you even here anyway? Why did you come here? I don’t remember asking for your help!”

And as soon as she said that, she noticed the change in Gintoki’s expression. The look in his eyes became even sharper, and for a second, Tsukuyo wondered if she had gone too far. Well, she did say too much, but she was too embarrassed at that time, so it can’t be helped.

But much to her surprise, she found herself under Gintoki’s piercing glare as he straddled in front of her and pushed her down the ground. His hands tightly gripped her own so as to prevent her from breaking free, and for the first time in her entire life, she felt dominated.

Sweat trickled down her skin as she found herself beginning to feel anxious about her situation. She only faced him with a questioning look, and as soon as her eyes met his, everything became clear—he was hurt. He may not say anything, he may not act like it, he may do something else to push such feelings aside, but he won’t fool her. They were too similar to each other for her own liking, after all.

“G-Gintoki…?”

The silver-haired samurai did not say anything in reply. He just stared at her in silence, making her worried about his unusual actions. Maybe she really had gone too far?

“Y-You.. you damn idiot..! Don’t you have any idea on how worried everyone was when you disappeared? And aren’t you the one who dragged my ass back to Edo since I’ve been shouldering the problem all by myself? So why the hell are you doing the same thing now?!”

Tsukuyo was surprised at his sudden outburst, and at that moment, she realized on how right he was. Indeed, she was doing the same mistake that he did not too long ago. She was burdening herself with a problem that she shouldn’t carry all by herself. She was blaming herself for all of their problems. She didn’t even consider on sharing her burdens with them.

The two of them were indeed frighteningly similar. So similar that they’ll even commit the same blunder by themselves.

Realizing that she was the one at fault, Tsukuyo tore away her gaze from him and hung her head low in shame.

“I… I’m sorry, Gintoki. Indeed… it was my mistake. I… I didn’t—”

“Tsukuyo. Listen to me.”

The blonde woman understood this and brought her gaze back to him. And as soon as they have stared into each other’s eyes, she then saw how serious Gintoki was.

His voice was firm and resolute.

“Promise me that you’ll never keep something from me from now on. Promise me that.”

Tsukuyo knew the weight of such a promise. And even though she knew that, she had no qualms on denying Gintoki her answer. If he wanted her to be honest, then by all means, she would be one.

“Okay. I promise you that, Gintoki. I… I won’t be keeping anything from you anymore.”

She said that with no hesitation. And seeing Gintoki’s satisfied look, she knew that she had gotten her point across. Relieved that it didn’t end up in the worst case scenario, a smile started to cross her lips as she pondered to herself on why she had easily agreed to such terms.

Maybe it was because he was the Savior of Yoshiwara? No, it was more than that. Maybe because he was a strong man who she can depend on? No, it’s not that either. And because her mind was too much occupied right at that moment that she couldn’t afford to think of such absurd thoughts, she then settled to an explanation which she agreed with all her heart.

Because she trusted him.

As soon as she had said that, Gintoki had loosened his hold on her and sighed. “Good. You’re a real pain in the ass, you know? Making everyone worried…. Is that your hobby, you bastard?”

Tsukuyo frowned at this. “I… I’m sorry.”

“Eh? Why are you so docile today? You’ve really given me a lot of problems, you know. Do you want me to punish you, huh?”

“What did you just say?!” she growled, annoyed. “You bastard! I apologized, didn’t I? What the hell is your problem?! Anyway, get off of me now!”

Gintoki was amused by her reaction and without even thinking twice, he tightened his hold onto her once again and pushed himself closer to her, which made her feel even more embarrassed.

“G-Gintoki…?!”

Tsukuyo flushed a deep shade of red, which made Gintoki even more pleased with what he was doing.

“What’s my problem? Well, come to think of it, I don’t know about it either. I just… felt like it. And besides, being this close to you isn’t that much of a problem, right? ”

The way Gintoki had said this sounded really different from his usual tone. She didn’t know why, but it sounded more… enticing than usual. The sharp look on his eyes that is way too much different from his usual dead fish look did not help much either.

“S-Shut up!” she exclaimed, which came out more like a stutter. “G-Get off me, you bastard! It isn’t a problem, but I just don’t like it, got it?!”

Gintoki just smirked at her reaction. “Oh, really now? Are you really saying the truth..?”

With those words, Tsukuyo had suddenly felt the real weight of her promise. She promised him that she won’t hide anything from now on. So what should she do, tell him the truth?

But the man in front of her did not make it easier since he pushed himself against her even more. His face was only a few inches away from her, and because of that, she felt even more flustered.

She could feel his breath on her face, which made her heart beat faster. Her breath hitched as she suddenly felt it hard to breathe, and she felt herself becoming more flustered than she already is.

_What’s happening..?_

“I… Gintoki, I—”

The heat of the moment had taken its toll on her. Even her eyes became swirls and she was unable to think straight anymore.

“I…”

Unable to take the pressure any longer, she pushed him away by kicking him on his groin. Gintoki yelped in pain as he immediately got off her and tended to his screwdriver down there.

He winced in pain and held his groin comically. Tsukuyo, on the other hand, stared at him in silence and tried to calm herself down.

Gintoki glared at her. “Oi! What’s the big idea?! Why the hell did you do that, you bastard? What if my ‘lil Gin-san gets crushed? What if my ‘lil Gin-san didn’t withstand that attack? What if my ‘lil Gin-san didn’t become Gingin-san anymore?! If that happens, Gin-san won’t be Gin-san anymore! Gintama won’t be Gintama anymore! It will only be Gin, you know! Gin!”

In the middle of his tsukkomi, a kunai had suddenly made its way towards his head.

“Geh. So you came back to your usual stoic self, huh? That’s a pity. It’s so rare to see you act like that earlier. Oh well, I guess that’s the rarity of it.”

“Y-You bastard… How dare you..!”

Gintoki chuckled at her reaction. “Oi, oi, easy there Tsukki. We’re just having a little fun. It’s payback you know, payback. It was hard for me to get some sleep ever since then, you see.”

Much to Gintoki’s surprise, Tsukuyo had turned red once again, which confused him greatly.

“W-What..?” he asked. “Did I say something embarrassing or something?”

“But Gintoki… you just said that… you had trouble sleeping when I wasn’t around. So does that mean that—”

“O-Oi! Don’t give my words any other meaning!” he yelled back, blushing wildly. “It doesn’t mean like that at all! I was just used on talking with you before I go to sleep, you know! It doesn’t mean that I miss you or anything sappy like that! It isn’t like that at all!”

Tsukuyo just shrugged it off, which annoyed the silver-haired samurai. “Anyway, how did you find out that I was here?”

“I asked around. I got help from people. Your subordinate even begged me for help.”

“Subordinate? Who?”

“Ah… errr.. what’s her name again..? Azuki… or something like that?”

“It’s Azumi, you idiot. This isn’t Bakuman.”

“But I’m a part of Akurogi Musai.”

“And I don’t care about that.”

“But I do care about that. Anyway, what are you doing here? Why are you injured? You’re trying to handle this by yourself and you end up getting injured… are you nuts?”

“I-Injured…?”

And Gintoki pointed to her head. She then found it covered in bandages—and not only her head, but her feet, arms and shoulders as well. She even had a band aid on her face.

“Y-You… you even treated me too..?”

Gintoki faced her with a lazy look. “Huh? What the hell do you mean by that? Of course I did! Did you see anyone else in here? Of course I’m the one who treated you! It’s a real pain in the ass, you know!”

“I… I see,” she replied, shyly tearing her gaze away from him. “T-Thank you, Gintoki..”

Gintoki smiled at her in return, which made her heart skip a beat.

“Yep, no worries. Gin-san has it all covered.”

He stood up and grabbed his yukata which was lying down the ground, and tossed it towards Tsukuyo. And without even saying anything, he went a few steps away from her and sat still, and lazily leaned his back against the rocky surface and massaged his own shoulders, muttering to himself something along the lines of “Aaaaah, Gin-san’s too sore, Gin-san’s too tired, his shoulders hurt..”

Tsukuyo just stared at him in silence, confusion filling her senses.

“Gintoki..?”

He looked back at her. “What?”

“What are you doing there?”

“Huh? I’m sitting here, obviously. Don’t mind me. Just use my yukata as a blanket or something. It’s still raining outside and it’s cold. You need it.”

“But you obviously need it too. The cold in here is inhuman. You won’t be able to withstand it.”

“I will. Gin-san is superhuman. He would be able to withstand a cold or two. Heck, he would even be able to live in the North Pole if he wanted to.”

“Lies. You ain’t nothing like that, you moron.”

“Then what? Are you saying that you’ll share my yukata with me? Aren’t you the one who called me a sexual harasser because I did that? What the hell’s with that, oi!”

“I’m saying that it’s fine, isn’t it?! Just get your ass in here and do as I say! Or else I’ll kill you!”

Seeing that further resistance is futile, he was left with no choice but to do what she said. He walked towards her and sat beside her, with his yukata serving as their covering.

“O-Oi. You’re too close, you bastard,” said Tsukuyo in embarrassment. “Move a little bit.”

“It can’t be helped you know! If I move even further then I won’t be covered by my yukata! And besides, you’re the one who insisted this in the first place, so endure it!”

“R-Right. Then I’ll do as you say. Don’t do anything weird now!”

“I won’t do anything! Just what do you think of me, huh?!”

Tsukuyo shrugged at this. Seconds had passed between them in silence, until the blonde woman suddenly decided to break the ice.

“Gintoki, aren’t you interested on the reason why I’m here?”

“Huh? Errr.. yeah,” he replied as he picked his nose, which earned him a kunai on the head.

“I… I heard that a few Sonjouroushi members have gathered in here, and so I went there to—”

She stopped as soon as she noticed that Gintoki had suddenly leaned his head on her shoulder. She blushed furiously at this.

“G-Gintoki?! W-Why are you—”

“Tell me about that later. As for now, I’m too tired and lazy to even care about it. What matters most to me is that you’re safe. Everything else comes later,” he said, closing his eyes. “Hey, Tsukuyo.”

“W-What..?”

“Lend me your shoulder for tonight, okay? I… feel too sleepy right now. You should get some rest too.”

Tsukuyo smiled at this. She didn’t know why, but she was totally fine with this. If it was the ‘her’ of before, she probably would have been against it. However, the ‘her’ right now with Gintoki is…

“Alright. Sleep well, Gintoki,” she answered back, but it fell to deaf ears as Gintoki had already fallen asleep. Deciding that she should do the same thing as well, she then leaned her head against his.

The smile on her face never faded as she slept.

_Really… thank you so much, Gintoki._

**XOXOXOX**

The next morning, Gintoki and Tsukuyo woke up earlier in order to go to the next village. But before they went outside the cave, Tsukuyo had explained everything to Gintoki—from the fact that she went there in search for the Sonjouroushi, how she helped a girl named Chiyo in the process, how she found out about the blueprint, and how she had gotten her hands on it. Needless to say, Gintoki wasn’t too amused by this.

“So… you mean to say that you got injured since you tried to get your hands on this so-called blueprint?”

Tsukuyo nodded. “Yeah. I heard that this blueprint is something that may cause the downfall of the Sonjouroushi, so I supposed that obtaining this is really a crucial thing.”

Gintoki sighed at this. “You really are reckless, aren’t you? You even pushed yourself too far just for the sake of a piece of paper.”

“It already happened, so it’s fine. Anyway, shall we take a look at this now?” she asked, her hand snaking its way towards her kimono in order to get the said blueprint. But Gintoki stopped her by holding her arm.

“Stop that. Let’s look at that later when we get to the village. As for now, we should be getting out of here.”

And Tsukuyo agreed with this. As soon as they got out of the cave, Gintoki had suddenly squatted down, much to her surprise.

“W-What the hell are you doing, Gintoki? Why are you doing that?”

“Ain’t it obvious? I’m gonna carry you so hurry up, Tsukki,” he replied a matter-of-factly. This made Tsukuyo blush in embarrassment.

“Y-You?! Y-You’re gonna carry me..? A-Are you nuts?! I’m fine, I can walk by myself! Stop this nonsense now!”

“Huh? What the hell are you talking about? You’re injured so you obviously need this! Don’t be such a pain in the ass! If you decline this offer, then I’ll really tell Hinowa just how reckless you were!”

Tsukuyo was taken aback by this. She was embarrassed to be carried by Gintoki, but she didn’t want to worry Hinowa either. And the folks at Yoshiwara didn’t even know about her business with the Sonjouroushi, so it’ll really be a problem if Gintoki did tattle to them. Finding no other options, she shyly allowed Gintoki to carry her on his back.

“Ugh…! Y-You’re so heavy, Tsukuyo. Have a diet once in a while, will ya?”

Tsukuyo was both embarrassed and angry at his lack of delicacy. Without hesitation, Tsukuyo pulled out his hair, which made him wail in pain.

“O-Oi! Stop that! Oi, Tsukuyo! Stop pulling my hair, dammit!”

“You deserve it, you bastard! You have no respect towards a lady!”

“Lady? There’s no lady in here—ugh!”

Gintoki stopped as soon as a kunai had made its way towards his forehead. He sighed. “Alright, alright. I’ll shut up now, okay? Geez, making a fuss about that… you know, you should’ve—what?”

Tsukuyo pointed in front of them. And as soon as Gintoki looked at what she was pointing at, he found a group of people surrounding them.

Gintoki smirked at this.

“I guess.. we’ve got ourselves some visitors.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chabashira - is a tea stem or tea stalk. When a chabashira is floating upright in tea by chance while pouring, it is considered to be a sign of good luck. Once that happens, one shouldn't let other people see it or else their luck will leave them.
> 
> geta - Japanese sandals. It is considered as bad luck or a bad omen when a geta strap breaks. 
> 
> A black cat is considered to be a bad omen.
> 
> NEET - Not in Employment, Education or Training.
> 
> Laputa – Laputa, Castle in the Sky. It is an animated film by Studio Ghibli.
> 
> Ue-sama – refers to the Shogun, obviously.
> 
> Miyazaki-sensei - Hayao Miyazaki, one of the big names in anime history. A veteran from Studio Ghibli.
> 
> Studio Ghibli – a studio that produced Laputa, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, etc.
> 
> Sheeta – the braided young heroine from Laputa.
> 
> Heidi, Girl of the Alps – a 1974 anime series based on a novel. Sorachi parodies this a lot as well, especially in the Hasegawa Prosecution arc.
> 
> Peter – an 11-year old goatherd who is a friend of Heidi. 
> 
> Ponyo – the protagonist of the Studio Ghibli film, Ponyo. She’s sorta like a pink fish who, through some magic, was able to transform into a young girl and befriends a young boy named Sousuke.
> 
> Sousuke – the young boy and the main character (aside from Ponyo) in the Studio Ghibli film, Ponyo.
> 
> Fumoffu – a sound that is made by Sousuke Sagara’s mascot. From the Full Metal Panic series.
> 
> Kagebunshin no Jutsu – Naruto’s cloning technique.
> 
> -dattebayo – this is the way Naruto ends his sentences.
> 
> Rasengan – one of Naruto’s techniques.
> 
> Bankai – the second form of a zanpakutou (first is shikai) in Bleach.
> 
> The gorilla's drinking buddy is Kubo Tite, the mangaka of Bleach.
> 
> Benigumoto – the syndicate that is shown on Red Spider arc.
> 
> Lotion play (ローションプレイ), also known as gookkake, gluekkake, is a popular form of Japanese erotica and prostitution involving the use of copious amounts of sex lubricant which in the Japanese language is referred to as "lotion" (ローション).
> 
> Tenkaiichi Budokai - that martial arts tournament in Dragonball which is always referenced by Sorachi.
> 
> Puklipo, Astoltia, Tantegel Castle, Mortamor, Nokturnus, Goowain – Dragon Quest I, VI and X references.
> 
> Akiba-kei otaku- Akihabara-style otaku. Akihabara is a district in Tokyo where many otaku hang out.
> 
> tantou - a short sword that is used by Tsukuyo and is placed on the back of her obi.
> 
> From now on, I’ll use Shinigami Dayuu instead of Shinigami Tayuu, even though both terms are correct. Since you know, those Japanese changes in sounds. It’s the same case as tamago + sake = tamagozake. And also, I’ll use ‘Tsukki’ than ‘Tsukky’ from now on. ‘Coz I felt like it. XD
> 
> The second kanji for Gintama, tama 『魂』, means ‘soul’ but is also homonymous for ‘balls’. (Balls as in.. p*nis.) Hence, the joke. But I’m sure everyone knows this already. 
> 
> Gingin-san - gingin is an onomatopoeia that expresses… erection. *shot*
> 
> Azuki – the seiyuu heroine in the series Bakuman. 
> 
> Bakuman – a manga about manga by the Ohba-Obata duo of the Death Note fame. A Jump manga.


	17. Even the most unlikely types of people will team up in the face of a common goal.

“I guess… we’ve gotten ourselves some visitors.”

As soon as those words had come out of Gintoki’s mouth, his hand immediately reached out for his bokutou while Tsukuyo, on the other hand, had gotten herself off his back and proceeded to her fighting stance. They looked at the group of men in front of them in wary. As they tried to decipher who in the world had found their whereabouts despite the fact that they were stuck in a friggin’ cave, the silver-haired man soon found his answer as he saw the familiar figure of a man he knew.

“Y-You are…”

“Gintoki? What’s the matter?” asked Tsukuyo, as she found her companion to be distracted despite the fact that they were being ambushed. The said man only let out a smirk cross his lips, which confused her greatly. “Oi, Gintoki! What are you doing? Can’t you see that they’ve found us? What are you spacing out there for?!”

The Yorozuya laughed at this, much to her dismay. “Oi, oi, don’t be too tense now, Tsukki. It’ll be fine. Trust Gin-san on this.”

“Fine? How can we be fine if we’re surrounded? Just what the heck is going on your mind—”

She stopped as soon as Gintoki pointed at something right in front of her, and as she looked at what he was pointing at, she then saw that someone was about to approach them… and from the looks of it, he seemed to be one of Gintoki’s acquaintances.

“So you’ve finally found Tsukuyo-dono now, didn’t you, Gintoki?” said the long-haired man whom she recognized by the face. And if she did remember correctly, they had even met a few times before. She had completely forgotten his name though.

Gintoki walked forward to meet his childhood friend, his left hand draped lifelessly on his yukata while the other whacked the Joui on the head. “Oi Zura. What took you so long? And here I thought that the enemy had finally caught us… Man, you gave me a scare there for a second!”

“Hmph, the great Shiroyasha being scared by a group of men? You’ve gotten too soft, Gintoki,” replied Katsura, into which he earned a sudden tug on his hair coming from the silver-haired guy. He laughed. “Do you remember, Gintoki? During the war…? You were also… panicking just like this.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Zura? And why did you suddenly bring that up? Just because Sorachi suddenly created a Joui Past arc doesn’t mean that we have to bring it up here as well, you know.”

Katsura smirked. “Of course I do know that. I’m not stupid. That’s right… Back then, when we were at the red-light district… I remember that you and Takasugi chose the same woman back then, and you were even furious when Sakamoto had brought it up. I bet your pride had taken a lot of damage back then, huh?”

“Haaaah?!” exclaimed Gintoki, annoyed. “What the hell are you talking about? Don’t fabricate things into my past! I know nothing of what you are talking about! And besides, the only thing that I remember is that you’ve said ‘back then’ as often as that Mimawarigumi dog kept on saying elite!”

“Heh, deny it all you want Gintoki,” grunted Katsura, which pissed off the former even more. “And come to think of it, both of you choosing the same woman means that the two of you share the same taste when it comes to women. So does it mean that there is a possibility that Takasugi would be interested on the same woman that you might possibly fancy..?”

“You bastard… Just a little bit more and I’ll really strangle you to death. Just a little bit more…”

“Don’t worry, Gintoki. With the way things are right now, I doubt that Takasugi would even get to know your woman. And besides, he’s got his hands full right now—he’s still deeply in love with Yakult-chan.”

“I don’t wanna hear that from someone who cannot even get over a bottle of Pocari. Look, even the fandom decided that Yakult x Takasugi is canon and that Sakamoto x Pocari Sweat x Katsura is canon. There are even RP blogs about Yakult-chan and Pocari-kun!”

“Ditto. Though I also heard that Kurokono Tasuke x Pocari Sweat is canon? Either way, I heard that Fujimaki-sensei thanked Sorachi-sensei in the recent Jump TOC. So even noobs got some decency over gorillas, huh?”

“I bet he realized that Gintama is just superior over Kuroko no Basuke when he saw the success of the latest Gintama movie. And by the way, I heard that the author still wants to get a camrip, but because of that stupid Eiga Dorobou ad—” Gintoki scratched his head in extreme annoyance. “—Ah, this conversation is getting all over the place! There’s really no decent conversation whenever the two of us talk! I hate talking to idiots!”

Katsura laughed at this. “The times had not been so kind on us, I guess. Don’t worry, I still haven’t forgotten your debt—you still have to pay me and Sakamoto for the Pocari and the Yakult.”

“You’re still hung up on that?! Anyway, forget that… we should be going back now to the village, right? I’m getting hungry, and I bet that woman over there is hungry too,” he trailed off, pointing at Tsukuyo.

“Ah, I suppose we should be heading back now then,” said Katsura, and walked towards Tsukuyo and lowered his head before her in greeting. “It’s nice to see you again, Tsukuyo-dono. Do you still remember who I am?”

“Ah… yes. I do remember you,” replied Tsukuyo. “Y-You’re Ka—”

“Katsura Kotarou. A Joui. The leader of the Nationalist faction.”

“Also known as Zura,” chirped Gintoki.

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura!”

Gintoki pushed his childhood friend aside and only picked his nose as he looked at the kunoichi in front of him. “Tsukki, since you’ve met this man a few times before then I guess you have an idea of how stupid he can be. I suggest that you stay away from him at all times. He’s a very dangerous person.”

Tsukuyo remained stoic as usual. “I know. You’re the dangerous one, Gintoki.”

“Oi, who are you calling dangerous?! I’m just telling you to be cautious of this man you know!”

“Gintoki, are you saying that I’m a dangerous person? Even after all those times we’ve spent..?” Katsura pushed himself towards Gintoki and grabbed him by his clothes, while the latter used his hand to cover Tsukuyo from his childhood friend’s presence since, fuck, he’s not gonna let that bastard touch her with his filthy hands—wait, what? Did he just think of that?It seems that his mind is going crazy that he even thought of such absurd things. But then the bastard was persistent so he just had to shield her—yeah, it’s just like that. However, instead of doing what he originally intended, his hand had accidentally pressed on something… bouncy.

_…Bouncy. Oh shit._

“W-W-W-W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD?!?!”

Hearing the blonde girl’s shriek of fury and embarrassment, it finally registered to him—yes, he had done it again. He had groped her breasts once again, he’s gonna face hell again and before he knew it, he found himself slumped on the ground as he faced the fury of being subjected to the Yoshiwara woman’s suplex.

“O-Oi… t-that wasn’t on purpose… Really, that wasn’t on purpose at all…!”

Tsukuyo only glared daggers at him and hit him with a kunai on the forehead. She had enough of him harassing her. He’s been doing that since last night, and she had enough of it.

“It’s good to see that you’re back to your cheerful self, Gintoki,” said Katsura. He let out a small chuckle and looked at the blonde woman with a smirk still on his face. “You see Tsukuyo-dono, Gintoki here was so frantic and restless about finding you earlier. When we received some word that you were seen here, he immediately took off without even saying a word to us. If you ask me, I think he nearly lost himself back at that time—”

Katsura Kotarou was suddenly struck by Lake Touya, which he dodged in a hairsbreadth. He clicked his tongue in disappointment. That bastard just gotta dodge it when he was sure as hell that he wanna strike him down. The nerve of him.

“W-What the hell are you talking about huh, Zura? Me, losing myself over her? Are you stupid? Don’t make up stories you bastard!”

“Simmer down, Gintoki. Don’t deny it anymore. Your concern for Tsukuyo-dono can easily be seen as bright as day. It is as apparent as when Aomine-kun suddenly changed his attitude towards basketball. It is as apparent as when Akashi-kun suddenly changed the way he was leading the basketball team ever since he awakened that creepy eye of his.”

“What the hell are you talking about?! You talk as if I’m interested on that woman! Just so you know, I have no interest over drunken terminators!” He pointed at Tsukuyo so as to further emphasize his point, since to hell with it, he’s not interested on anyone else except for that lovely weather girl. And at that, a kunai had suddenly made its way towards his head.“—Zero interest! No interest at all! And why are you including Be-san and Kamiya-san anyway? I’ve had enough of all the Kuroko no Basuke references!”

“Why? Are you into Free! right now that you can’t even take Kuroko seriously anymore? Do you only do freestyle? Have you forgotten Sunrise that you’ve switched to Production I.G.? Or are you into moe blobs that’s why you’ve switched to KyoAni?”

“Neither! Stop rambling about unnecessary things, Zura! No one will get what you’re talking about! And if you’re talking about I.G. then I prefer Chamber! I’ve even said that I wanna see a cosplay of that before you know!”

Katsura did not take heed of any of this, and only looked at Tsukuyo in order to continue his speech. “Anyway, as I was saying earlier, Gintoki was indeed extremely worried about you, Tsukuyo-dono. And if you ask me why, I’ll say that’s because he’s in lo—”

Before Katsura could even say anything else, the now irritated yet red-faced Gintoki made him shut up by kicking him on the head which made the former lose consciousness. Tsukuyo, unable to take the stupidity of the two idiots in front of her any longer, only sighed in disbelief as she took a puff out of her kiseru.

“Oi, is he still alive?” she asked Gintoki.

“Yeah, he’s still alive,” he replied while laughing awkwardly. “Idiots live an absurdly long life.”

**XOXOXOX**

It was hot and the sun was shining brightly in the sky, making it the perfect time to hang the laundry dry—which the only woman of the Shimura household, Tae, had just done. She was busy doing the chores in their backyard; one look at her and one could tell that she was truly absorbed on doing her chores, but that just wasn’t the case. Truth be told, she was just doing that in order to take all of her problems out of her mind.

It was just yesterday when she had heard the news about that idiotic boss of her brother being caught up in such a big mess involving the Bakufu and the Mimawarigumi. And to be honest, she wasn’t surprised at all. Ever since she had met that man, her brother had always been caught up in a mess involving such big guys—such as the Shinsengumi, the Kiheitai, the folks at Yoshiwara, or even the Bakufu itself, as seen in one of their recent adventures that made them cross paths with the former Shogun just so they could reunite two unlucky lovers. And besides, wasn’t their first meeting a proof of his rowdiness already? He just stole a police car and crashed it into a flying brothel just so they could rescue her. He helped Shin-chan, who was just a complete stranger to him at that time, without asking anything in return. He may be a useless geezer, but his soul shined in its silver glow whenever the time calls for it. He’s just… like that. A difficult man. Or so she believed.

And thus, she just found it hard to believe all the things that Gin-san was being accused of—that he murdered the roju when they infiltrated Aburanokouji since they only went there just so they could rescue Shin-chan and Kagura-chan. First of all, does Gin-san even have the motive to do so? From her point of view, there’s no benefit on involving the roju in all of this, much less getting rid of him. And if Tsukuyo-san’s plan was indeed followed by everyone, then there’s just no way that Gin-san would’ve been able to go to the Shinsengumi barracks since it is practically a few kilometers away from the building that he was in. It was just plain impossible!

..But then again, she heard from Shin-chan that Gin-san was a former Joui patriot, so that thought wasn’t completely impossible—

“Otae-san.”

The sound of her name snapped her out of her reverie, and she realized that she completely stopped on doing her chores and just stood there pondering about Gin-san’s problem with a blanket on her hand. She sighed. She usually wasn’t bothered about this kind of thing, so why is she acting like this now?

“Otae-san? Oi, Otae-san—”

As if possessed by some kind of warrior, Tae suddenly got a naginata on her hand out of nowhere and attacked the man right in front of her with it. The man—or rather, gorilla—flinched in fear and surprise and ducked his head under his hands.

“O-Otae-san! Have mercy on me! I’ve come here for another purpose! Otae-saaaaaaan!”

“Shut up!” she growled back, annoyed. She couldn’t believe it. Usually, her senses were so sharp that she usually knew if the gorilla was there stalking her or not, but now she was just too occupied by her thoughts that she didn’t even notice that bastard of a gorilla sneaking up on her. And hell, if that guy didn’t bother to call her attention then she wouldn’t even notice him at all! Just what in the world is happening to her, and what the heck is this shit?

“Otae-san..? What’s the matter? You seem to be…occupied by something.”

“Whatever’s happening to me is none of your concern, you mountain gorilla,” she replied dejectedly. She bit her lip. The fact that her unease was becoming too obvious that it was even noticed by a dumb gorilla pissed her off. She shrugged. “If you’re not here to stalk me, then what do you need me for then? As far as I’m concerned, I did not do anything that will warrant me the attention of tax robbers such as the Shinsengumi.”

“Ah, but you already did, Otae-san! You just stole my heart—”

She immediately grabbed hold of his mouth with her hands, ready to crush it at any time she ever wanted to. Her smile never faltered as well, despite knowing how different her real intentions were from her current expression.

“I do not have the time to mess with you, Kondou-san. If you still value your life, I suggest that you get on to business immediately.”

Kondou Isao gulped loudly in response but followed her instruction nonetheless. And as Tae released him from her jaw-lock, he then adjusted himself and looked at her with a serious expression, one that is completely different to the one he usually had. If she were to put it simply, he had that kind of aura that truly befitted the Commander of the Shinsengumi. And since she was so used on seeing the gorilla look so idiotic that such a scene is as rare as finding a super rare Pokemon, she was utterly speechless at this since this is, hell, as awkward as it will ever get, and that bastard is the creepiest person she had ever met on this planet.

“..W-What do you want?” she finally asked. And hell no, that wasn’t a stutter, she just didn’t stutter in front of that gorilla bastard. She just bit her tongue, that’s all.

Taking a deep breath as if he was trying to find the right words to say, he then looked everywhere in sight and said, “Where’s the Yorozuya?”

Tae almost dropped the piece of laundry on her hands due to the shock brought by Kondou’s question. She knew that something like this will happen sooner or later, she knew that Gin-san’s name will eventually appear, but still… she just wasn’t prepared for it, especially if it came from the gorilla’s mouth.

“And why are you asking me? I’m not his babysitter or anything. I don’t have the time to look after a childish adult who always gets himself into trouble.”

Kondou scratched his head and looked away with a troubled expression on his face, and Tae pondered on why he looked like that. “Why are you looking for him? He’s not here. Have you checked the Yorozuya?”

“H-He’s not there the last time I’ve checked,” he replied. “That’s why I’m here and I—”

“Well, Gin-san’s not here so you may now take your leave,” she cut him off. “And besides, it is none of my business where he went so even if you ask me, I just wouldn’t know anything about it.”

“Otae-san…”

For a moment, Tae made a longing look that made Kondou wonder about what she’s thinking right at that moment. He might be a stalker, he might be taken as a comic relief character, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still completely enamored and taken by her. And even though he was supposed to be an idiot, he was surprisingly perceptive about things concerning a certain brunette.

He can clearly see it—her awkward yet developing feelings for a certain silver-haired Yorozuya. And that’s the reason why he found it so hard to ask about the Yorozuya’s whereabouts. He’d heard rumors after all—rumors that the Yorozuya was starting to get serious over a certain blonde woman at Yoshiwara that he even went to go looking for her when she went missing even though he still had his own matters to take care of. Yes, he knew that the Yorozuya wasn’t there at all. But he just blurted it out, not knowing how to approach her aside from his usual way of stalking her. But doing something like that in the seriousness of all things that was happening right now isn’t right. It’s not right at all.

But still, he knew that he should carry on with his objective. There’s no point on stalling it any further. He needed to say it to her right now, as soon as possible, before it becomes too late.

“I know what you’re going to say. That’s why I only have one thing in reply: I believe that Gin-san is innocent. I know Gin-san. He’s not the type to just do something like that, especially if he won’t achieve anything by doing it. And I won’t change my opinion no matter what you say.”

And from the looks of it, it seems that Otae-san was indeed faster than he is, since she already knew what he had in mind.

“I beg to differ, Otae-san. I’m not here in order to persecute the Yorozuya or something like that. And besides, even I do believe that he is innocent. The rest of the Shinsengumi thinks so as well. I even heard that Sougo saw the whole thing and even Toushi knew of this. They knew that he wasn’t the one who killed the roju.”

“Well, if that’s so then why are you here? Are you really looking for Gin-san? Since if you’re indeed looking for him then he’s not here, you’re just wasting your time.”

And for the umpteenth time that day, Kondou Isao had that rare expression on his face once again which certainly did not help ease the situation between the two of them. She was still confused as to why the gorilla kept on making that face, and even though she somehow knew what he was going to say, she just didn’t wanna put words onto his mouth.

“Otae-san…. If possible, could you please leave Kabuki-chou? With all the things that are happening right now, I just couldn’t assure you that I—”

“What the hell are you talking about? I, the Queen of Kabuki-chou… leaving? Are you insane? There’s no way I would ever leave this place! I won’t leave Kabuki-chou no matter what happens!”

“But Otae-san, things have escalated to the point that we won’t even be able to take control of the situation! The fact that the roju’s death was leaked by the media only aggravated things! And since this a national incident, and since the roju had so many followers, your lives might be in danger! Take Shinpachi-kun and the China girl with you and go hiding for a while! It’s possible that you guys might be their target, since you are the closest to Yorozuya!”

“Nonsense! And besides, aren’t you guys overreacting? Gin-san did so many outrageous things, things that are even more outrageous than this!”

“Those are isolated incidents and it happened without the knowledge of the public. On the other hand, this one is different. If this was an isolated case then we would have salvaged the situation, but it’s not like that anymore… And even if we do protest, the Mimawarigumi are pressing charges against him. The files in the AV room, which were supposed to be the evidence of Yorozuya’s innocence, were all incinerated before we knew it… Without anything to back us up, all of our protests will be in vain! That’s why I’m begging you—please, go in hiding for a while, Otae-san! Just a bit… just a little bit... once the matters are resolved, then you could go back here and resume your daily lives in peace!”

Feeling the sincerity behind Kondou’s words, Tae felt the need to answer him back with the same intensity as well, but even though she wanted to do just that, she had difficulties on doing so. And thus, she settled on whatever she might say right at that moment—as long as she’s sincere on what she was about to say, then it’s fine.

“Even if you say that, Kondou-san.. nothing will change my mind. I won’t leave Kabuki-chou. I won’t leave anyone behind,” she then said, facing him with a firm expression and a faint smile on her lips. “The queen of Kabuki-chou isn’t a coward. I won’t tolerate injustices. I won’t run away. Going into hiding means that I’ll just be running away from our problems—and that’s just not my style.”

And at that moment, Kondou felt as if he had just been enlightened by her words, and that fact was even exemplified when he made that kind of ‘refreshed’ expression, which crept the hell out of the young brunette.

“W-What the hell is wrong with you?” muttered Tae, who was still annoyed at whatever the gorilla had on his mind right now. “Oi. I said what the hell is wrong with you?! Are you listening to me, huh?!”

Before she knew it, Kondou Isao’s serious aura dissipated quickly into oblivion, and he reverted back to the old goofy and idiotic stalker of a gorilla that she loathed. And to make the matters worse, he even leapt towards her in glee due to reasons she knew nothing of.

..Not that she cared anyway.

“Get the hell off me, you damn bastard! I’m really gonna kill you for sure!”

But the gorilla just won’t budge. He kept on clinging to Tae, despite the fact that she kept on kicking him away with all her strength.

“Otae-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! Indeed, I did not make a mistake on choosing you! You are the perfect woman for me, Otae-san!” he exclaimed with tears on his eyes, which only added to Tae’s ire. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you marry me? If you say yes, I, Kondou Isao, will protect you with all my—”

“TO HEEEEEEELLLLLL WITH YOUUUUUU! DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

And with that scream, Kondou was launched to the sky with a flying kick which knocked the life out of the Shinsengumi Commander. He flew to the sky with his knees and arms bent on both sides, and his pinky, index finger and his thumb stuck out, Rumiko Takahashi-style.

‘T-That’s old,’ Tae mused, taking note of the fact that Kondou just launched into the air in the same signature pose of Takahashi characters.

Seeing that everything had been such a big mess, Tae decided to distract herself from such thoughts for a while—but it was deemed futile as she pondered about the thing that the gorilla just told her earlier.

He said that Okita Sougo saw Gin-san at Aburanokouji at the time of the murder, so it only means that Gin-san was indeed innocent. But the files in the AV Room… what did he mean by that? Was there a CCTV in all parts of the building or something? Well, even if there is, if the evidence—the said records on the AV Room—were gotten rid of, then how could they prove Gin-san’s innocence? Or rather, if the evidence was indeed destroyed by some other party, does it mean that they have an unknown enemy and that they are trying to frame Gin-san into a crime he did not commit? Is it that Sonjouroushi group that they had been chasing for so long? Or is it somebody else? Knowing how difficult Gin-san was, she knew that pinpointing out the culprit would be hard. Just how many people had he offended in his whole life anyway?

She sighed. It seems that there was no limit to her stupidity, given the fact that she had been constantly telling herself not to worry about such absurd things, but here she was, thinking about it constantly. She must be out of her mind.

And the phone suddenly rang, which she decided to be a good distraction from her train of thoughts. However, as soon as she learned who it was on the other line, all her worries came back rushing to her senses once again.

“Aneue?”

“Shin-chan? What’s the matter?” she asked. Last night, Shinpachi didn’t even come home as he had stayed at the Yorozuya in order to look after Kagura-chan, who was unwilling to leave the place. And thus, the only thing that he did was to leave her an abrupt call that he won’t be going home that night, and when she tried to ask him more about it, the call was cut off—from the sound of it though, she concluded that Kagura-chan was annoyed at Shin-chan and thus she unplugged the telephone jack, making the phone call cut short.

“Aneue, I’m sorry if I was unable to call back to you last night. Kagura-chan here is being petty; she kept on nagging at me and she kept on demanding for something! What am I, a fucking maid?! I’m not like that you know!”

She heard Kagura-chan’s voice on the other line, saying something along the lines of “Go die, fucking megane!” or “Go back and suck your mother’s teat!” or something like that. She smiled to herself. It was a good thing that both of them were doing just fine… On the other hand, she was…

“Aneue? What’s wrong?”

Tae was startled at her brother’s sudden question. Even her own brother had seen through her worries, and that fact alone dismayed her. “It’s nothing, Shin-chan. I’m fine,” she finally replied, convincing both Shinpachi and herself that she was indeed like that—just fine.

“Well, if you say so then I won’t try to pry any further,” replied Shinpachi, which made Tae heave a sigh of relief. “But aneue, have you seen the news yesterday? About Gin-san…”

Tae bit her lip. It seems that her brother also heard that Gin-san’s alleged involvement with the death of the roju was leaked to the public—the worst case scenario. But now that they all know about this mess, what should they do now?

“Yeah, I saw it.” She paused for a few seconds before adding, “This case had become so difficult, isn’t it?”

Shinpachi was silent on the other line, but she knew her brother well enough that he agreed with her.

“Aneue… I’ll be staying at the Yorozuya for a while until this whole mess is settled,” he trailed off. “That’s why you should come here too, aneue. Stay at the Yorozuya for a while. It’s better if we all stick together in order to prevent further problems.”

The brunette let out a sigh. She just knew that it will all end to this—that all of them would try to make her go somewhere else. Why can’t they understand her?

“But Shin-chan, I just can’t leave the—”

“The dojo, isn’t it?” he replied, which made her surprised. “Aneue, stop worrying about the dojo that our useless father had left us! We should prioritize ourselves first!”

“I do know that, Shin-chan. But I just can’t leave the dojo all alone. What if the enemy destroys the dojo and we end up being homeless? This place is full of memories, Shin-chan. I just couldn’t leave this alone!”

“Aneue…”

“I’m fine, Shin-chan. Don’t worry about me.”

“But aneue, you shouldn’t worry about the dojo anymore. I’ve talked with Okita-san, and he said that the Shinsengumi will look after the dojo while you’re here at the Yorozuya. So you don’t need to worry about being homeless—it ain’t gonna happen.”

“Oh.” Tae could only facepalm in embarrassment as she realized that she just went on full drama over nothing. Ah, if there was only a hole right there, she would really hide there right now!

“Aneue..? Are you still there?”

“Ah yes, I’m still here Shin-chan.” She leaned against the wall as she made a longing glance outside. “Are you…gonna tell Gin-san about this?”

Such a question made the atmosphere between them become so tense, as she knew that Shin-chan was having difficulties on answering her question. But just as when she was about to take back her question, Shinpachi suddenly gave his reply.

“I will protect everyone, aneue. That’s what I promised Gin-san.”

And he said that with all the seriousness that he could muster, that she even felt the intensity of his resolve on the other line. She could also see just how much he trusted the silver-haired man, and that fact only made her smile.

“Is that the reason why you want me to stay there for a while, Shin-chan?”

“Of course! Kagura-chan and I promised Gin-san that we will take care of things here while he’s gone, and we’re gonna do just that!”

“So does that mean that you won’t tell him about this then?”

Shinpachi paused for a while before replying, “It’s not like I’m not gonna tell this to him… I just won’t bother him right now. After all, since he entrusted everything here to us, then that only makes this our responsibility. We need to do this.”

“Shin-chan…”

“And besides aneue, we, the Yorozuya, had a promise to each other that we will always keep—and Gin-san knows that as well. We believe in him. He’ll be back here with us, everything will be resolved, and… we’ll go back to our usual lives.”

With those words, Tae felt as if she had just seen the light at the end of the tunnel—she had just realized her mistake. She shouldn’t really worry about such absurd thoughts at all. And why did she even bother to think of such things anyway? It doesn’t matter if they do not know how they will proceed to next. It does not matter if she had no idea what might happen in the future. As long as she believed, then there’ll always be a way. And just like them, she trusted Gin-san. She believes in him. And that’s why… everything’s gonna turn out just fine.

And as Shinpachi dropped the phone call, Tae still could not help but wonder on what will happen to them now that everything is in chaos.

**XOXOXOX**

Later that afternoon, back at the nearby village where Katsura’s faction had been staying, the three key members of the operation against the Sonjouroushi—namely Katsura Kotarou, Tsukuyo and Sakata Gintoki—had a meeting in order to discuss their plans on their next course of action. And even though Tsukuyo had tried her hardest in order to initiate a decent discussion, all her efforts were futile when it came to idiots such as these two.

It took most of her mental strength in order to stop herself from beating the hell out of these two idiots who cannot seem to provide any decent plans. And to make things worse, whenever she presented her own plans, they just played around with it until it ended up being butchered and they ended up with kunais on their head. And since she knew that nothing worthwhile will really happen if she continued on doing this, she let out a sigh and told them, “Fine. Then I’ll just stick to my original plan. You guys do not seem to be serious about this anyway, so I’ll be doing this my way.”

Gintoki gawked at her and tugged at her sleeve just as when she was about to stand up and leave. “Oi, oi, just what the hell do you mean by that, huh? Are you saying that you’ll do this by yourself? Haven’t you learned a single thing even after everything that happened?”

“That’s right, Tsukuyo-dono,” added Katsura, which made Tsukuyo even more irritated. “And besides, aren’t we having this meeting so as to discuss upon our next course of action against the Sonjouroushi? Isn’t it going on so well?”

“Going so well my ass!” she growled. “What the hell do you mean by going so well?! Do you think stuff about Doraemon is going to be of big help? And what do you mean you’re going to acquire ‘cloths’ in order to win against them? And what do you mean about using Dokodemo Door upon infiltration? It’s all a bunch of stupid ideas!”

“Oi oi, don’t underestimate Doraemon’s magical pocket, Tsukki! Do you know that Nobita-kun even made it through space with the help of Dokodemo Door? Or what, are you saying that we should focus on Kaze Tachinu instead? Or are we supposed to look down on Toriko since it only debuted at eight place despite having more screens than our second movie?”

Tsukuyo felt the need to beat up Gintoki right there and then, since him saying those stupid things with such a serious face made it even more ridiculous than ever. Oh, why the hell did she ever believe that man’s words? Why the hell did she ever believe that everything will turn out just fine as long as he’s there? It’s a disaster, the irony of it could’ve killed her!

Seeing that nothing will happen if they continue this any further, Tsukuyo looked at Gintoki as if saying that he should be serious now and that she had no more time for fooling around. The bastard did not seem to notice it though.

“Let me guess… you guys just plan to barge in there without any preparations at all, aren’t you?”

And as she asked that particular question, the two samurais straightened up their backs and sweated profusely as if they were guilty of something. Tsukuyo only let out a sigh.

“Since it looks like everything we’ve talked about seemed to have gone awry then I guess we should talk about this later when we really had plans of our own. Although I guess it’s fine now since we’ve located their headquarters through the blueprint I’ve got a while ago… Should we still plan about this just like what we did when we infiltrated Aburanokouji? Or are we just gonna barge in there like usual?” She felt her temper rise when she saw that the two men were just sitting there speechless and dumbfounded. “Although if you ask me, it’s better if I just went along with my original plan—to infiltrate the Sonjouroushi by myself, do some espionage work and request for backup. That will be the most efficient plan that we can do, in my opinion.”

“No, don’t you dare do that,” growled Gintoki, which surprised everyone in the room since he said that with such a condescending tone that even Tsukuyo found herself staring at him, startled by his sudden outburst.

“Why?” she asked, confused. Gintoki isn’t making any sense. He’s not acting like usual, and he didn’t have any reasons to stop her… does he? She just didn’t understand how his mind works at all. “Why are you stopping me? And besides, if it comes to espionage work among the three of us then I’m the best choice. This is my line of work, Gintoki. I know what I’m doing.”

“Just... no. I’m against this. I don’t want you to barge onto their quarters alone. Don’t you dare act so stupid, Tsukuyo. Don’t do anything without my knowledge ever again.”

And Tsukuyo was taken aback by this, unable to fathom what he had just said. Gintoki was acting really weird right at that moment. It just wasn’t right. Why is he saying that? Is he treating her like some kind of baggage now that he won’t even consider her as someone equal? Well then, to hell with him but she won’t overlook that! She is a damn fine warrior and she’ll do whatever it takes to do her mission!

“Why are you so keen on stopping me? Or rather, why are you acting like this, Gintoki? Are you saying that I can’t take care of myself that I even have to tell you everything that I do?” she growled back, her dismay at the silver-haired samurai clearly apparent in her voice. “I can take care of myself, thank you very much!”

Gintoki was about to say something in response, but before he could even have the chance to do so, Tsukuyo already stood up and went outside the room in fury, leaving both Katsura and Gintoki by themselves.

“O-Oi… Tsukuyo..!”

Seeing that Tsukuyo was truly pissed at his comment made Gintoki mad. Just what the hell is her problem? That’s the reason why girls are so damn difficult. It’s really a pain to deal with them. He’d just thought of her well-being, that’s all! She didn’t have to interpret it into such twisted ways like those heroines had always done in the sappy Ladies Four dramas that Kagura kept on watching!

But that mad snickering by Zura just made him really infuriated. And just as when he was about to whack him on the head with his ever-trusted Lake Touya, he was then taken aback when the idiot faced him with a knowing look—a look that truly did not suit Zura since… face it, Zura’s an idiot and an idiot who acts as if he’s a genius and all-knowing is downright annoying.

“What? Why the hell are you looking at me like that huh, Zura? You wanna die so bad?”

Zura’s smug look never left his face as he replied, “You’re too protective of her, Gintoki. You shouldn’t do that. Even though she’s a woman, she can still fight you know.”

“I know that she’s a very capable fighter. I haven’t forgotten that.”

“You know that and yet you were acting very protective of her without even considering her feelings. You sounded as if you had very little confidence on her abilities.”

“Huh?! What the hell are you talking about?! That thought didn’t cross my mind even once!” he exclaimed in defense, trying his best to act as callous and unaffected as possible. “I just don’t want any unnecessary things to happen, you know! Everyone knows just how dangerous her plan was!” He then looked away from Zura and scratched his head in annoyance as he mumbled, “I… I just don’t want anyone important to me get hurt ever again because of my carelessness. I’ve already experienced it a lot of times, and even more recently with what happened with Shinpachi and Kagura. I don’t wanna risk anything anymore.”

Katsura smirked at this. “And that’s why you plan to shoulder everything by yourself alone? You really haven’t changed a bit, Gintoki. You’re still as reckless as ever.”

“What?! Zura, you bastard—”

“You know Gintoki, you should just confess to her if you like her that much. It’s a pain to look at you like that. You look like an awkward middle school boy on the brink of his puppy love.”

And as soon as he heard this from Zura, Gintoki couldn’t help but feel annoyed and embarrassed due to reasons he knew nothing of and couldn’t even understand nor comprehend.

Just how in the world did Zura end up thinking about something as absurd as that?! Eh? Is it because I’m too overprotective of her? Is that it? So what, if I’m overprotective of that Granny (Read: Otose) then does that also mean that I’m madly in love with her?! That’s just too gross! Can’t Zura understand the mandate of every Shounen Jump hero? That hero complex is a must for every Jump main character!

But despite the onslaught of tsukkomi in his heart, Gintoki decided to shrug it all off since that’s what Gin-san usually does, and he’s everybody’s Gin-san that’s why he’s doing it.

And thus, he faced Zura with an uninterested look. “That’s nonsense. I’ll never like a woman like that.” A smug look suddenly appeared on his face as he continued with, “And besides, I already have my lovely weather girl for me. Ketsuno Ana is the best~”

Seeing that he’d already said what he wanted to say, he then exited the room, leaving a certain Katsura Kotarou with a mischievous grin still plastered on his face.

**XOXOXOX**

It was already dusk when Tsukuyo had decided to take a seat at the engawa right in front of her room and sip a cup of tea, which was starting to get cold despite the fact that she had just prepared that a while ago. Looking at the skies above, she took a puff of smoke out of her kiseru. Her mind was all blank, and the only thing that registered to her were the birds that flew high up in the sky, the clouds that scattered everywhere, and the sun that was about to set and cover the land with its reddish glow.

Of course, she still couldn’t forget about Gintoki’s reaction a while ago. But even though she could not understand why he acted that way, she knew that she shouldn’t think too much about it. And she did just that. She was surprised though when she saw his friend, the one he called ‘Zura’, approach her as he took a seat a few steps next to her.

“Are you still thinking about the incident that happened earlier, Tsukuyo-dono?” he asked, looking as serious as he usually did. She was surprised that his duck-like pet—Elizabeth is the name, if she remembered correctly—wasn’t there though, but she then remembered that he sent her (or him?) on an errand to buy him some Nmaibou from downtown.

“Not really,” she replied. She did, though. She still cannot forget about it. After all, it was rare to see Gintoki act like that towards her, and he…

“Are you still angry at Gintoki?”

This question surprised Tsukuyo, as she did not expect the long-haired man to ask her such a question. “No, I ain’t angry at him. I understand his sentiments. Did it appear that I was angry at him though?”

She’d be lying if she said she was angry, since she really wasn’t angry at him. But she gotta admit, she was irritated by the way he had said that to her earlier. It looks as if he was treating her as someone so fragile, and such a thought didn’t sit well with her. But still, she understood him. He had lost too much. And he almost lost Shinpachi and Kagura recently. So of course, he’ll really be overprotective over everyone he knew. He’s just like that.

“Yeah, it did appear like that,” he replied. “And I do think that he was bothered by that too, even though he won’t ever say it.”

And at those words, Tsukuyo made a mental note to apologize to Gintoki when they meet later. She then took the cup of tea on her hands and took a sip from it.

“Tsukuyo-dono, you’re in love with Gintoki right?”

Upon hearing this, Tsukuyo could not help but to spit out the tea that she was drinking. She immediately went beet red as soon as her mind started to process out what Katsura had meant by that question, and her embarrassment doubled as soon as she noticed the words ‘Gintoki’ and ‘love’ being together.

_Really, what the hell was that bastard’s point in saying all of this?! Doesn’t he even have any delicacy?!_

“W-What the hell are you s-saying?! Are you stupid?! I’m not in love with him! How could you get such an absurd idea? Aren’t you ashamed?!”

“Eh?! You’re not in love with him? But aren’t the two of you dating? Come to think of it, Gintoki denied this when I asked him about this too… but if you two aren’t dating, why are you doing things that only couples do?”

Tsukuyo became even more flustered at this. What the hell did he mean by ‘doing things that only couples do?’ As far as she’s concerned, they never did couple-like things! She and Gintoki ain’t a couple! They don’t even have feelings for each other! Where in the world did that bastard get that idea? That’s too stupid, just too stupid, there’s just no way she’ll fall for a lazy bastard like Gintoki, there’s just no way!

“We ain’t doing any couple-like things, you bastard. Stop making things up,” she finally said, ignoring all the tsukkomi that kept on appearing on her mind. But still, despite the fact that she tried her hardest to remain as stoic as usual, she still cannot conceal her embarrassment over this fact. And of course, this fact did not escape Katsura as well, since as soon as he noticed how flustered she was over his question, a mischievous grin slowly crept upon his face and never faded away.

“I’m not making things up though. Aren’t you holding hands when I saw the two of you at the bridge before? I’d definitely say that those are couple-like things. He even carried you on his back. If that wasn’t couple-like then I just wouldn’t know what is.”

“W-WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?! IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!”

And as she shouted that, memories of her and Gintoki together flashed through her mind—such as that time at Yoshiwara when his face accidentally pressed against her breasts, their nightly chats during her stay at the Yorozuya, their interactions at Hagi and the way they had held each other tight as they slept on a single futon, the way they had held hands throughout their trip back to Edo, the way she and Gintoki had shared his yukata, and much, much more…

Needless to say, her embarrassment was on its peak that she was unable to hide it anymore. She was now an emotional wreck, and she kept on mumbling to herself about her not being in love with Gintoki or something like that… Katsura, on the other hand, still kept on snickering to himself as if he had some kind of plan.

“Well, it really doesn’t matter if you guys are dating right now or not. But… you have feelings for him, don’t you?”

And Katsura asked that question with such a serious tone that Tsukuyo was able to snap out of her severe embarrassment over his earlier accusation. She felt that he was being serious over that fact. And although she didn’t know how to answer him, given the fact that he was one of Gintoki’s closest friends, she understood that he was only considerate of his friend’s well-being. Thus, she knew that she needed to answer him seriously.

But… even if she did answer him seriously, what kind of answer would she even give him? To be honest, she didn’t really know at all. Heck, she doesn’t even know if she likes Gintoki or not! And didn’t she abandon her femininity already? That fact only makes such a thing invalid!

However, she still couldn’t deny all those weird feelings that she got whenever she’s with him. She likes him—that much is a fact, although whether it is to the degree of being a friend or of being a love interest, such is a thing that should still be debated upon. She really didn’t know about love and such, due to the fact that she grew up in Yoshiwara and lived as a warrior, and seriously though, she had never imagined that such a day would come wherein she would think about romance and such. That is such a girly thing to do. And wait, girly? So does that mean that she’s being feminine now? But shouldn’t she stop being a woman? Even though Hinowa had told her otherwise, she had promised herself that she will stop on being one. She’s all confused now. She doesn’t even know what to do anymore.

To hell with this. To hell with this and to hell with Gintoki.

“Tsukuyo-dono? What’s wrong..?” asked Katsura, which snapped her out of her thoughts. Seeing him made her have a strong urge to strangle the guy to death because seriously, if it wasn’t for his stupid question then she wouldn’t even think of such an absurd thing such as this.

“N-Nothing. I’m just… thinking over things, that’s all.”

“Are you thinking of your reply to my question? You like Gintoki, don’t you?”

Tsukuyo paused for a few seconds until she decided that there’s no way out of this anyway, so she should just answer him seriously.

“To be honest, I really don’t know. I just… don’t know. I don’t know what I feel for him. I don’t know what I should feel either. But… I do want to know what these feelings are. But as of now… I really don’t know.”

Katsura was surprised on how honest she had answered his question, despite the fact that they do not even know each other that well. He smiled to himself. It seems that Gintoki truly had some good taste when it comes to women. And since he never forgot about his debt to him when Gintoki helped him on that matter with Ikumatsu’s father, he knew that this is the way wherein he can pay him back tenfold.

And as such, Katsura suddenly stood up and smiled to himself, much to Tsukuyo’s surprise. The fact that he stretched out his hand to her only added to her confusion.

“K-Katsura…san..?”

“If you want, I could help you out, Tsukuyo-dono. I have something that I must repay Gintoki with, and I think this is the best way to help a dear friend out.”

Tsukuyo was dumbfounded at this. What the hell did he mean by that? Helping her out? What?

“I… I don’t understand what you’re saying. Help me out? Help with what? And besides, what do you plan to do? I just can’t—”

“I’ll help you on realizing your true feelings for Gintoki. If you realize that you really do love him, then I’ll help you on winning him over. It’s that simple, no?”

_HOW IN THE WORLD COULD SUCH A THING BE SIMPLE?! AND YOU EVEN SAID THAT WITH A STRAIGHT FACE! DON’T YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT ‘DELICACY’ MEANS? JUST HOW MUCH OF AN IDIOT ARE YOU?!_

Tsukuyo’s embarrassment started to rise up again, and to be honest, all that she wanted to do right now is to hide in a hole and never leave herself out in the open again. That way, she won’t be this embarrassed, and she won’t feel awkward with herself. Can’t this shitty feeling go away even just for once?!

But it seems that fate had its own way of trolling her since it only made things worse for her—the man she desperately did not want to see right now just appeared right in front of her looking as idiotic as ever. His dead fish eyes looked at the both of them and as she stared at his approaching figure, her mind kept on replaying the memories that were triggered by Katsura’s earlier question, and she could not help herself but feel flustered at the sight of him. Just what the hell is wrong with her?! It’s that damn bastard’s fault for making her act like this!

“Yo there, Zura, Tsukki,” he greeted and raised his right hand in order to wave at them. But as soon as Gintoki had claimed the spot right next to Tsukuyo, Katsura suddenly looked at his watch and muttered something about his favorite drama reruns. And much to Gintoki’s surprise, Zura had suddenly grabbed Tsukuyo’s hands and exclaimed, “Tsukuyo-dono, I look forward to your response! Meet up with me later if you accept my offer!”

Gintoki rolled his eyes. Knowing Zura, he probably asked her to join the Joui as usual. However, what he did not expect was Tsukuyo’s reaction—since as soon as Zura had said those words, she was completely flustered and her face was beet red, and this fact only made Gintoki really shocked since he had never seen her look that way, heck she did not even make that kind of face in front of him!

_Eh?! Wait, what does this mean? Eeeeeh? Could it be? Could it be that this is something that Gintama truly lacks among all its diverse genres..? That… thing? You know, r-romance? Eh?! Wait a minute! I don’t believe this! Tsukki and… Zura?! Wait, wait, wait, wait..! This cannot be! I mean, isn’t Zura in love with Ikumatsu? And besides, didn’t Zura have a thing towards widows? And isn’t Tsukki so keen on abandoning her femininity? She couldn’t just change her character just like that! No way, it’s just impossible I still could not believe it! Don’t tell me this fic is turning into those other fics that is full of sappy romance and out of character shenanigans! Ehhhhhhhhh?! No waaaaaaaaaaay!_

Unable to take this fact any longer, he shook his head furiously and tried to bring himself back to reality. There’s just no way that could have happened. It’s just plain impossible. And besides, Tsukki and Zura do not even know each other that well. It’s impossible, really!

“T-Tsukki..?” he finally asked, as he tried to reach out his hand to her. But before he knew it, Tsukuyo suddenly stood up and replied to him with an abrupt, “I have to go now,” making him alone there in the engawa, still shocked at what he had just discovered.

_EH…..EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?! SERIOUSLY?! NO WAY! MY MIND MUST BE PLAYING TRICKS ON ME! ZURA AND TSUKKI ARE TOGETHER?! THAT’S TOO FAST! THAT’S DAMN TOO FAST! IT’S FASTER THAN TAMO-SAN’S BALLS! IT’S FASTER THAN WHAT SAGAMI ORIGINAL COULD HANDLE! THEIR INTERACTIONS TOGETHER, EVEN IN THE CANON OR EVEN IN THIS FANFIC ARE JUST DAMN TOO FEW! ALL OF THEIR INTERACTIONS CAN ONLY FIT ON A THIN NOTEBOOK! ON THE OTHER HAND, GIN-SAN AND TSUKKI’S INTERACTIONS COULD FIT A NUMBER OF MANGA VOLUMES! EVEN JACKIE’S NOSE COULD FIT THERE! H-HOW?! JUST HOW?!_

_..And wait, why did I even include myself there? Eh? I’m hallucinating, aren’t I? I mean, this is too much! Zura, Tsukki—how could you do this to Gin-san?! If you’re together then you could’ve just told me so! Aren’t we friends?! And Tsukki! Just because you have a boyfriend doesn’t mean that you have to hide it from me! Am I not your friend? Just because you have a boyfriend now then you’re going to avoid me now, huh?! Huuuuuuuuuuuuh?!_

_*twitch*_

_Eh? Did I just… hear something *twitch* just now? Eh? What is that? Am I irritated? I’m not irritated! I’m not getting irritated! I’m not! I’m not!_

And in a desperate attempt to stop himself from making tsukkomis deep within his heart, he walked towards the wall and slammed his head hard towards the surface. Blood oozed out of his head as he continued on snickering to himself.

“Y-Yeah… I’m hallucinating. And seriously, something like that isn’t important at all… E-Ehehehe.. ehehehehe… Seriously, why am I even bothered about something as stupid as this? Something must be wrong with me.. hahaha.. hahaha… hahahaha….”

**XOXOXOX**

As per Shinpachi’s request, Tae went to Yorozuya Gin-chan early that morning, at a time where there were only a few people roaming around the streets of Kabuki-chou. Even though she was still reluctant on leaving Kodoukan Dojo, Shin-chan had a point. And thus, knowing that she couldn’t do anything against her brother’s wishes, she went there in hopes of seeing them all okay and doing just fine.

Her way towards the Yorozuya was okay so far, and there’s nothing unusual either, at least, in her point of view. However, as soon as she got closer towards the stairs that one should cross in order to go up the Yorozuya, she then saw a man standing there, leaning against the railings.

She approached the man, expecting him to be a client. “May I help you?” she asked in a cheery voice. But before she could even hear his reply, he suddenly attacked her, and only her screams reverberated across the whole area.

Shinpachi and Kagura, who were still asleep upstairs, suddenly rushed down as soon as they heard Tae scream. But before they could even do anything, they then ended up seeing the figure of a thoroughly beaten-up man, his blood still trickling across Tae’s fingers.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! A MONSTER!”

“IT’S A FRIGGIN’ TITAAAAAAAAAAAN, UH-HUH!”

And as soon as those two screamed those words, they found themselves under the mercy of the older Shimura. She still smiled at them sweetly like she always did, but the way she carried herself today made her look like a yandere or something..

“Shin-chan, Kagura-chan, I found this garbage on the stairs. This isn’t good. You should know how to throw trash properly.”

Shinpachi just rolled his eyes at this. “Uh, aneue..? That isn’t trash… that’s clearly a person, you know. A breathing human being.”

“What are you talking about, Shin-chan? This is a trash. Look, it’s burnable trash, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean by burnable trash?! Are you going to burn him?! Are you really serious on burning him?!” he exclaimed, and knocked Kagura on the head as soon as he noticed that she tossed a match towards her anego. “And you, Kagura-chan! Stop adding fuel to the fire!”

Despite all of this, Tae just ignored the two of them and directed her deadly gaze towards the man on her hands, while the latter flinched and shook in fear. “Now, if you could, please do tell us about your business here. What are you doing here? And who the hell are you?”

The said man only smirked in response, which annoyed Tae.

“E-Everything’s too late for you now, miss… we’ve already got them…”

The three of them were confused as to what the man had meant. However, as soon as they heard Otose’s voice on the other side of the establishment, they immediately rushed in there in order to check on them—but what greeted them is a group of suspicious-looking men confronting Otose, Catherine and Tama inside the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > The references related to Yakult, Pocari Sweat and Kurokono Tasuke are spoilers for the recent manga chapters.
> 
> > There are really RP blogs of Yakult-chan (its-yakult) and Pocari-kun (its-pocari) on Tumblr.
> 
> > Eiga Dorobou, or Movie Thief, is the ad that appears before a movie is shown in Japanese theaters. By the way, it got trolled hard in the second movie.
> 
> > Fujimaki-sensei indeed thanked Sorachi-sensei in the ToC comments page. It’s because of that blatant Kuroko no Basket parody, I guess?
> 
> Aomine-kun and Akashi-kun – Aomine Daiki and Akashi Seijurou from Kuroko no Basket. Part of the Generation of Miracles. The mentioned parts here are a big spoiler for the Teikou arc, btw.
> 
> Be-san – Suwabe Junichi, seiyuu of Aomine Daiki in Kuroko no Basket. Be-san is the nickname that Sugita gave him.
> 
> Kamiya-san – Kamiya Hiroshi, also known as HiroC, the seiyuu of Akashi.
> 
> Free! – the famous ongoing swimming anime by Kyoto Animation.
> 
> Do you only do freestyle? – A reference to Nanase Haruka’s (the main character from Free!) famous line of “I only do freestyle.”
> 
> Production I.G. – The animation studio for Kuroko no Basket. 
> 
> Sunrise – The animation studio for Gintama.
> 
> Kyoto Animation – The animation studio for Free. Before doing that series though, KyoAni is known for creating series featuring moe blobs, or “Cute girls doing cute things.” But because of Free, I guess it’ll change to “Sexy guys doing sexy things”? *shot*
> 
> Chamber – One of the main characters in the recent Production I.G. anime Suisei no Gargantia. He is the mecha for the main character, Ledo. Chamber is also voiced by Sugita. By the way, on that episode of CosCosPlayPlay wherein Sugita-san cosplayed as Gin-san, there is a segment wherein Sugita was asked on what cosplay he wanted to see in the future. He said that he wanted to see a Chamber cosplayer, and as you can see, I made a reference to that on this fic.
> 
> Rumiko Takahashi – One of the big names in the manga industry. The richest and most successful female mangaka in whole Japan, and the mangaka of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma ½, Inu Yasha and Kyoukai no Rinne. The pose referenced here is that famous pose that was always done by Takahashi characters whenever they are launched high up in the air.
> 
> Cloths – the armor that is worn by the characters in Saint Seiya.
> 
> Doraemon – a children’s anime and manga series by Fujiko F. Fujio.
> 
> Dokodemo Door – One of Doraemon’s commonly used gadgets. It is a door which allows travel to anywhere by simply going through the door.
> 
> Nobita-kun – the main character from Doraemon.
> 
> Kaze Tachinu – the latest Studio Ghibli film.
> 
> > For those interested on my reference to the Toriko movie, here’s a post from MH:   
> “For those interested, Toriko’s movie debuts at 8th position, for the weekend, with Y55,361,400 (US $565,000) from 179 screens. For comparison, the latest Gintama movie had opened at 4th position with Y281,776,256 (US $2,821,707) from 127 screens, during the weekend.”
> 
> Tamo-san – is Gintama’s version of the real life Japanese comedian Tamori-san.
> 
> Sagami Original – a brand of Japanese condom.
> 
> Jackie – Jackie Chan, the Hollywood actor.
> 
> Titan – reference to Shingeki no Kyojin.
> 
> > The way Gintoki did his tsukkomi at that part where he thought that Zura and Tsukki were dating is a reference to the “Lonely Boy arc” in Sket Dance, wherein Bossun also did the same thing when he saw Himeko and Katou Kiri talking with each other, and he thought that they were dating. (Manga only!)


	18. There are always instances wherein one gets pissed off over someone without any reasons whatsoever.

Only a few days have passed ever since that incident at Aburanokouji. At that time, he and Kagura-chan were taken captive along with Elizabeth by the Sonjouroushi and according to what Azumi-san had said, by a recluse group of Oniwabanshuu. A few days after that, Gin-san was accused of murder—a crime he obviously did not commit, but was unable to escape from. Either way, despite all the charges against him, he went out to go look for Tsukuyo-san who sought the Sonjouroushi on her own, while they, on the other hand, were stuck in Kabuki-chou and are now facing a grave problem on their own.

Shimura Shinpachi let out a sigh as he analyzed the gravity of the situation right in front of him. A group of bandits—probably the Sonjouroushi, or maybe the roju’s supporters, he did not know—have surrounded Snack Otose, with each of their weapons pointing towards the said old woman, Catherine and Tama. They, too, were forced to join the gang as the bandits have pointed their weapons at them. Finding themselves with no other choice, they scooted over the spot where Otose and the others were taken captive. All of them had their hands and feet tied up with a rope. And as he formulated various escape plans in his head, Kagura jabbed him at the sides and sneered at him, much to his dismay.

“Oi megane, just what the hell do you mean by that? You mean we can’t kick their asses yet? Why?!”

Shinpachi sighed as he glared back at the Yato beside him. “Kagura-chan, violence is not always the right answer you know! Don’t worry, you’ll be able to kick their asses soon! But first, we should know who they are and what their intentions are.”

“Huh? Oi Shinpachi, just what do you mean by that? Oi—”

Shinpachi shushed Kagura as soon as he noticed that a hardboiled-looking man was about to approach them. And from the looks of it, that man seems to be the leader of this faction or whatever it is that attacked them.

“I know that you’re hiding that man. We’ve surrounded the whole place; you’ve got nowhere to run. Resistance is futile. If you want to escape unscathed, then you better tell us where that man is.”

“What are you talking about? Who is this man that you speak of?” lied Shinpachi, despite knowing too well who that guy was referring to. But he ought to feign ignorance. He must. “We don’t know what you’re talking about—”

“Shinpachi!”

“Shin-chan!”

Both his sister and Kagura screamed his name as soon as the hardboiled guy grabbed him by the jaw in order to force the answer out of his mouth. Shinpachi, on the other hand, fought the urge to beat the guy up into shreds.

“I’ve told you, I don’t know anything about that guy! You better leave now. You won’t find anything in here!”

“Y-You shrimp! You’re really testing my patience aren’t you? You wanna get beaten up, huh?!”

The man was about to hit Shinpachi when they suddenly heard a faint chuckle coming from the corner of the room. Surprised, the teenager looked at the source of that chuckle, only to find out that it was no other than Catherine.

The man, pissed off by this, went towards the Amanto and hoisted her up by pulling her hair. “What’s the big racket, you ugly bitch? Care to give me some explanations?”

“What the hell do you mean by that? Bastard,” she hissed under her breath. “Now I don’t care what you do to that idiot Sakata. However, I won’t keep quiet if you guys go on a rampage here in my turf.”

“This is my place you know,” whispered Otose.

Catherine ignored her comment and continued, “You better scram off. You won’t find anything in here, you damn bastards. You guys should just get lost and go to hell.”

Pissed off by her comment, the hardboiled-looking guy who grabbed Catherine held her even tighter as if he was crushing her skull. The latter yelped in pain as she tried her hardest to endure the man’s attack.

“Oi, Catherine!” exclaimed Otose, who now tried to break free from her bindings, but to no avail. “Stop that! Don’t infuriate him any further! Oi, Catherine—”

The feline Amanto looked at her with a sullen expression on her face.

“Otose-san! We should just do as what they say! Let them take that bastard Sakata! There isn’t any prison cell that is capable of holding him down anyway, so it will just be pointless for them!”

As if taking that comment as a sign that she had finally given up, the hardboiled man released his hold on her and pushed her down the floor.

However, Kagura snapped and angrily rushed towards Catherine. Fortunately for the cat-eared Amanto, Shinpachi was able to restrain the young Yato.

“You bastard! Just what the hell do you mean by that huh?! You plan on giving them Gin-chan?! You plan on abandoning him?! Gin-chan never abandoned any of us! How could you do this, you little piece of shit—”

“Kagura-chan, calm down!” exclaimed Shinpachi. “Catherine-san doesn’t mean it that way! Isn’t that right, Catherine-san?”

Catherine scoffed at his comment. “What are you talking about, four-eyes? Of course I am serious.”

“What did you say?! You—”

“Stop that!” exclaimed Otose, who interrupted the conversation to somehow ease the tension between the three of them. “Stop acting like whiny little bitches who kept on pulling tantrums. This isn’t going to help the situation.”

“But Otose-san, Catherine-san just—”

Otose looked at Catherine as she took a puff out of her cigarette. “Catherine, you have a point there, actually.”

“O-Otose-san!” Shinpachi screeched.

“Old hag!” added Kagura, “You plan on turning your back on Gin-chan?!”

Otose smirked at this. “Don’t get me wrong, you morons. You still didn’t hear me out. I do agree with Catherine’s opinion—there is no prison cell here in Edo that is capable of housing that sugar freak anyway, so even if they do arrest him, then it’s all futile.” Otose ignored the piercing glares of the group of bandits in front of her and continued, “I would like to differ though.”

Catherine still had her eyes glued on the old woman. “O-Otose-san…”

“Truth be told, I really don’t care what happens to that idiot. That’s his own decision to make; I won’t make any matters worse, especially not now when he’s being accused of a major crime. Do you really think that Gintoki has the balls to actually do that?”

The men around them started to mutter among themselves. Seeing this, Otose inwardly thanked the fact that Gintoki was infamous as a good-for-nothing, lazy MADAO that people will find the story that he had murdered the roju for an unknown reason hard to believe.

She let out a faint smile.

“That Gintoki might be a heartless bastard, but he never did things that are against his own bushido. That much is a fact.”

“I agree with what you’ve said, Otose-sama,” Tama suddenly chirped in, which surprised everyone. “Gintoki-sama cannot do such a thing—like killing the roju for no other reason. Results are negative based on my analysis. That is what my data about Gintoki-sama points out.”

“Tama-san!” exclaimed Shinpachi.

The said android stood up and broke free easily from her binds, which made the perpetrators gasp in awe. She made her way outside, with everyone struggling to follow after her shortly.

As Tama slid the shoji screen open, the residents of Snack Otose were surprised to see that those guys weren’t bluffing at all; they were surrounded by a mass of citizens, and seeing this made them realize that the one who drove them to a corner wasn’t any Jouishishi but the roju’s supporters.

 _‘This is bad,’_ thought Shinpachi. _‘I knew that being involved with the roju would bring us trouble, but I never expected something like this. How could we possibly fight against innocent citizens who rallied outside just to seek justice for their beloved politician? These are women, elderly people and even children… This is bad. It’s hard to do the same things as usual if it’s like this.’_

Shinpachi bit his lip.

‘What should we do, Gin-san?’

Tama took a step outside and faced the people who surrounded them.

“T-Tama-san!”

“Gintoki-sama isn’t here,” she said, her voice firm and resolute. “It is unknown on where he is now, but as what I’ve said earlier, it is impossible for him to kill the roju given the circumstances. I highly suggest that you leave this place immediately.”

Otose squirmed on the floor as she tried to reach out to the green-haired android, despite the fact that she was still tied up.

“Oi, Tama! What the hell are you doing?! Come back here! It’s dangerous outside!”

The said robot just looked back at the elderly woman with a smile. “I’m sorry, Otose-sama. I understand your sentiments, but there is something that I must do right now.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that? Oi, Tama! Come back here! What are you planning to do? Stop it already!”

But Tama’s resolve did not falter despite Otose’s efforts. Her smile never faded as well, as she readied her mop on her one hand as if she was about to try making her way out by force.

“I’ll be… going somewhere for a second. I still have to do errands for Gengai-sama. I’ll be back again later, everyone.”

And with that, she took off and made her way towards Gengai’s shop despite everyone’s pleas for her to come back. And as if confirming their suspicions, Tama indeed had forced her way out of the masses of people just to achieve her goal. Shinpachi, on the other hand, decided that they should do something in order to alleviate the situation.

“Kagura-chan, let’s go. It’s time to do what you’ve been waiting for!”

“Finally. You’ve made me wait long enough, four eyes!”

And with that, Kagura and Shinpachi tried to break free from their bindings. Kagura was able to free herself with relative ease, but Shinpachi, on the other hand…

He was unable to do so and only fell flat on the floor, face first.

_Eh..?_

_Eh? W-What happened? Eh? Am I not having a cool moment earlier? Eh? Why? Why am I slumped on the floor like some lame ass guy? Eh?_

Unable to comprehend the reality of his situation, he looked towards everyone in sight.

Eh? Why are you giving me a look of pity? Am I that pitiful? I’m not pitiful! Wait a sec, am I not pitiful? I mean, I tried to look cool and all of a sudden this kind of thing happens to me… Come to think of it, the fact that I’ve thought of it this way makes this even more depressing..

His eyes darted to Kagura, and he noticed that she was currently giving him a look of disgust.

“That’s why you’ve never gotten out of being lame, Shinpachi,” she muttered right after clicking her tongue, which made him completely pissed off. And to make things worse, she even walked towards him and freed him from his binds, which only made his ‘pitiful-ness level’ exceed 9000.

“S-Should I still make a tsukkomi? Should I..?”

“It’s better that you don’t. Or else you’ll make yourself look even more pitiful, Shinpachi.”

Deciding that they have more important matters to take care of, Shinpachi took a deep breath and brought out his shinai, while Kagura brought herself into a fighting stance. Facing each other back-to-back, they slowly edged towards Otae, Otose and Catherine and faced the people who have taken them captive with eyes full of resolve.

“Stand back! Leave if you don’t want to get hurt!” exclaimed Shinpachi as he pointed his shinai to the so-called ‘leader’ of the group. “As long as we’re here, you won’t even be able to lift a single finger on any of them!”

“That’s right!” affirmed Kagura. “Yorozuya Gin-chan is invincible! Try to bite us and you’ll only get hurt!”

“We’ve promised Gin-san that we’ll protect everyone in his place—and as such, as long as we’re here, we won’t allow you to do as you please!”

“We will fulfill our promise to Gin-chan, and we’ll wait for him to come back! That’s what we’ve decided!”

The said leader only chuckled in response, which pissed off the two Yorozuya.

“Oi, what’s the big problem you bastard?! You wanna get beaten up, huh?!” yelled Kagura, but it just fell to deaf ears as the man still didn’t stop laughing.

“Fulfill your promise…? You’re gonna protect everyone? Don’t be naïve,” he trailed off in between chuckles. “If you’re so keen on doing that, then you’ve gotta fulfill our conditions first. Release Sakata Gintoki. If you did that, then we won’t have any qualms on releasing her as well.”

And as he said that, both Shinpachi and Kagura were surprised that the one they had taken captive was no other than the one they should be protecting.

“A-Aneue!”

“Anego!”

Both Shinpachi and Kagura were surprised to see that the hardboiled-looking man had taken Shimura Tae on his grasp, with her being strangled by the huge arm of that guy, and the brunette trying her hardest to break free from his hold, but to no avail. However, such a scene didn’t sit too well with them. How did he even manage to do that? Since as far as they can tell, she was just behind them together with Otose and Catherine. So... how?

“S-Shin-chan! Kagura-chan!” she cried, with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “I— I am—”

“You bastard!” hissed Shinpachi. “Just you try on hurting aneue even more, and I swear, I’ll kill you!”

But the man did not take any heed of it. He only tightened his hold on her, which made the two Yorozuya even more enraged. “If you don’t want this woman to get hurt, release Sakata Gintoki! Bring him right here and exchange him with this woman!”

Tae struggled under his grasp and tried to reach out her hand to them. “Shin-chan, Kagura-chan, don’t follow him — ugh!”

“Shut up, you damn woman! I’m still talking here!”

Seeing his sister being treated this way, Shinpachi tightened his hold on his shinai and was about to attack the man until he saw… something suspicious on Tae’s expression. Usually, when one is taken captive then they would struggle and become anxious, but she, on the other hand, looked kinda… odd.

“Ah, Shin-chan, Kagura-chan, save me please! This guy… this guy is hurting me! I don’t wanna be here! Help me~!”

Hearing this from his sister only confirmed his suspicions even more. Her actions were way too exaggerated, and realizing that Tae was somehow… fine, he looked at Kagura in order to see if she had caught on to what his sister is doing. Fortunately, it seems that they were on the same page after all, since she only stared at them with an indifferent expression on her face.

The man who took Tae captive finally noticed that both Shinpachi and Kagura only looked at them with an apathetic expression, as if the fact that that he had taken that woman captive is useless against them.

“Oi, why aren’t you doing anything?” he asked them. “Don’t you care what happens to her?!”

Much to his dismay, the two didn’t do anything else and only continued on staring at them. Sensing that taking Tae as a captive was just a waste of time, he then looked at his partner and asked, “Oi, what shall we do to this girl? I thought that taking her as a hostage will be effective, but it seems that she’s useless after all!”

“I don’t know!” replied the other guy. “You’re the leader of this sub-unit, so you should be the one to decide!”

“But this woman’s just… well, she’s kinda boring. She ain’t even voluptuous, and she’s flat-chested and—”

Before the man knew it, he found himself exchanging places with the woman that he had taken captive not too long ago. He was now being strangled by her, and she still kept her smile plastered on her face. Seeing this, the man finally realized that he had picked the wrong person to become a hostage.

“I dare you to say that one more time. Can you repeat what you have said?”

The man started to shiver in fear. “I… I said that you are the prettiest girl that I’ve ever laid my eyes on, and that—”

He was cut off when she suddenly slammed his face onto the ground and stepped on it. “My, I would still like to be a damsel-in-distress even longer, but I guess I can settle with something like this,” she then said, with her monstrous aura scaring the hell out of the rest of the trespassers. “Now if you don’t want to be eaten alive, I suggest you to leave. Although if you wanna be killed, that’s fine with me as well.”

The remaining guys were about to say something but were unable to do so as Tae, Shinpachi and Kagura had beaten them up one by one. The others were scared shitless and ran away, while the others stayed as if such a thing was a test of courage—but they all fell prey to the vicious cabaret girl’s clutches. It was only a matter of a few minutes until no one else was left standing, except for the ones included in the Sakata extended family. Seeing this, the people outside started to dissipate as well, leaving only a few men which they had also beaten up eventually.

“Hmph, those guys even have the gall to go against us,” said Tae, her hands moving as if she was dusting off some dirt on her hands. “They’re all weak. They’re nothing compared to us.”

“That’s right, anego!” chirped Kagura as she stomped her foot on one of the men that she had beaten up earlier. “They won’t be able to land a hit on us! We’re invincible!”

Shinpachi sighed. “Come on you two, it’s still too early to celebrate. We still haven’t—”

“You better believe what that man says. It’s still too early to celebrate, indeed.”

And at this, everyone looked at the hardboiled-looking man from earlier.

“And what do you mean by that?” asked Tae as she walked towards the man and grabbed him by his clothes. “There’s no one left in here. So why shouldn’t we celebrate?”

As if on cue, a group of bandits have surrounded them once again, and Tae found herself slowly being pushed to the edge.

Tae clicked her tongue. “You scum.. you still have comrades left..”

“There’s nothing you can do now. A rally is now being held throughout Kabuki-chou, seeking justice for the roju’s death. That’s why we’re here right now. The suspect must be punished for all the crimes he’d made! In this era where the Bakufu was being controlled by the Amanto, Masayasu-sama was one of the few people from the Bakufu who actually stood up for the masses! No matter what it takes, we will seek justice for Masayasu-sama!”

The people surrounding them roared in agreement. And right at that moment, Tae knew that they are in for a lot of trouble. Even though she believed that Gin-san was innocent, such a statement will prove to be futile against a group of dedicated followers. So… what should they do now?

She then faced her brother with a questioning look, as if she was asking him on what their next course of action should be. But much to her surprise, he wasn’t even bothered by it. He still held that firm expression on his face that Tae could not help but feel a tinge of pride at his attitude. And as expected, Kagura had the same expression as well.

Shinpachi then took a step forward.

“No matter what happens…”

Kagura did the same.

“…We will fulfill our promise to Gin-chan!”

And with that, both of them had determined looks on their faces and shouted in unison.

“As long as the Yorozuya is here, we won’t let anyone get in our way! Bring it on, you bastards!”

**XOXOXOX**

It was early in the morning when Gintoki, Katsura and Tsukuyo went to the Sonjouroushi headquarters in order to infiltrate them. Contrary to their suspicions (like the fact that their headquarters was situated in a faraway place underground), the real location was actually in a huge mansion at the bottom of a hill, northeast from the village that they’re currently staying in.

The sun had risen right at that time. The three of them stood in front of the back gate; they were exposed to everyone that they can easily be seen, but they were also cautious of their surroundings so as not to be easily noticed. Accompanying them were the other comrades of Katsura—although the ones who were with them only served as backup and were only creeping out through the shadows of the forest.

“Oi, is this really okay? Will I really pass off as a guy?”

Both Gintoki and Katsura just stared at the woman clad in a rounin’s outfit. She was wearing a dark gray hakama just like any samurai out there—a navy blue haori covered her whole body and hid her curves nicely, and her hair was even tied into a ponytail so as to make her more masculine. Her bangs were situated at the sides of her head, which was now completely void of her kunai hairpin, and she still had her kiseru on her lips just as usual. Giving her a look of satisfaction as his eyes darted to her from head to toe, Gintoki just nodded and gave a small grunt, which somehow signified his agreement.

“Hmmm.. yeah, I guess you could pass off as one. You just need to adjust your voice, I guess.”

Tsukuyo beamed at this, satisfied at his reply. “Really? So I really can’t be recognized as a woman? That’s great to hear then—”

“Uh… no,” said Gintoki. “You could pass a guy at one glance, but when someone’s eyes darts to that chest…” He pointed towards her chest so as to emphasize his point. “They will easily know that you’re a girl. Like, seriously. Didn’t you even bind your breasts or something? Aren’t you aware of the basics of cross-dressing?”

“I’m aware of the basics of cross-dressing. I’ve even read Nushi ni Todoke and Hanazakari no Nushitachi he. I even did binds on my breasts, dammit. So what the hell is the problem? If I didn’t know better, I would have charged you for sexual harassment, you bastard!”

“What’s with that, huh?! The bible of cross-dressing? And besides, there’s no such thing as a cross-dresser in Nushi ni Todoke! It’s all full of girly girls and gay boys!”

Tsukuyo’s eyes widened at Gintoki’s reply, which surprised and bothered the latter greatly.

“W-What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“G-Gintoki… you… you read shoujo manga too?”

“OI! THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?! I don’t read shoujo manga! I only read JUMP! JUMP! Weekly Shounen Jump, that’s the only one I read! I don’t even give a damn about Sunday or Magazine!”

“What? You read Margaret, Hana to Yume, Nakayoshi and Betsucomi? I didn’t expect you to be like that, Gintoki—”

“Are you really listening to me?! Didn’t I just say that I only read Jump?! Which part of my sentence did you not understand?! There’s a limit to selective obliviousness, oi!”

And as both Gintoki and Tsukuyo glared at each other, Katsura cleared his throat in order to get their attention. “Gintoki, Tsukuyo-dono, I hate to burst your bubble, but I think we should be going now…”

Gintoki ignored him as usual, and only settled on continuing his witty retorts. However, he was surprised when Tsukuyo actually did what Zura asked of them, and before he knew it, they were already walking next to each other, leaving him a few steps behind in silence.

_..W-What the—_

The silver-haired samurai only glared at the ‘couple’ in front of him. They were muttering something to themselves that made him wanna barge there and snoop into their conversation, but a certain part of him says that he shouldn’t. Nevertheless, his eyes continued to pierce on them in fury.

Both Katsura and Tsukuyo, on the other hand, were unaware of the piercing glare that the man had been directing towards them ever since they started walking towards the Sonjouroushi headquarters. They had their own agenda after all—one that involved matchmaking between the Courtesan of Death and the Shiroyasha.

Actually, such a topic can be traced back yesterday when Katsura proposed the idea that he’ll play the cupid between the two. Last night, Tsukuyo met up with Katsura once again right after they had dinner and she flatly refused the said offer, only to fall on deaf ears as he already concocted a plan…

  
**XOXOXOX**   


  
**Katsura’s Love Simulation Plan**   
**Commenced on: The First Night of Stay at the Village**   


“W-WHAT?! S-S-S-S-SEDUCTION?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?! WHY THE HELL WILL I DO THAT?! I WON’T DO THAT, NEVER!”

Katsura only smirked at this. “Don’t worry, Tsukuyo-dono. Every man is weak against a woman’s charms. I am positive that Gintoki is the same.”

“T-That’s not the point! I am not gonna do that! I know that Gintoki is a pervert, but didn’t I say that I won’t agree to your plan? No! Just no way, never!”

“You don’t have to worry, Tsukuyo-dono. I’m sure that this plan will go well. And we’ll never know, maybe you and Gintoki will have xxx tonight, yes?”

Katsura found himself being flooded by kunais as soon as those words got out of his mouth. He gulped in response as he realized that he was in for a huge trouble—since a demon had just awakened.

But Katsura was undeterred, and whenever he decided on something, he’ll see through it till the very end—and that’s also the reason why Tsukuyo had found herself being dragged by Katsura around the room where Gintoki was currently staying. Fortunately for her, the idiot still wasn’t around when they arrived at the room. Taking a huge sigh of relief, she looked around the area and found the room to be similar to the other rooms in the area—a typical tatami room reserved for guests, one that is similar to the one she’s currently occupying.

She was then startled when Katsura tossed her a bunch of magazines and stuff, which she easily caught with one hand. However, she turned pale at the sight of this, since she realized that the Joui had just tossed her a stash of pornographic materials and a… pack of condom.

“Oi, what the hell is this?” she hissed under her breath. “What do you mean by this, huh?”

Katsura had that proud look on his face which made her pissed off even more. “That’s exactly what it is, Tsukuyo-dono. I know that this stash of porn will give you more ideas on seducing Gintoki. And of course, you need the other one as protection.”

“Are you belittling me? I am a woman of Yoshiwara, you know. When it comes to sex and other kinky stuff, no one knows it better than I am.”

Due to the lack of tsukkomi right at that moment, Tsukuyo almost imagined Shinpachi’s voice saying, “THAT’S YOUR PROBLEEEEEEEEEEEM?!” when Katsura suddenly let out a shrill chuckle.

“Very well then, Tsukuyo-dono. I’ll just go fetch Gintoki. You wait here.”

The blonde woman only let out a puff of smoke and did not say a word. And with that, Katsura went out of the room, leaving Tsukuyo by herself.

He then went to the genkan of the neighboring inn and found Gintoki there fumbling with his boots. Apparently, he was about to go back to his room, which only made Katsura’s timing there even better.

“Gintoki, are you drunk?” asked Katsura, as he noticed that he reeked of booze and his cheeks were flushed. He then lent him a hand and helped him walk back to his room, as his drunken state made it hard for him to go back there alone.

The Yorozuya only clicked his tongue. “I’m not drunk, sheesh. I’m not drunk at all — hic.”

“Hic? Gintoki, is that your new character tic? Is that ‘hic’ of yours similar to Leader’s ‘aru’?”

“What are you talking about, it’s not like that at all, you idiot! And besides, it’s all your fault you know, your fault!”

Katsura gave him a questioning glance. “My fault?”

“Yeah! You and Tsukki have been doing things behind my back! I never knew that the two of you are in a relationship! It feels as if I’m not important enough to the both of you that you’ll leave me out of the loop at all! Gin-san’s hurt you know! Gin-san is frustrated about this!”

“You are… frustrated..?” trailed off Katsura as a smile slowly formed upon his lips.

“Pretty much. I don’t know it myself either, so I’m just gonna—”

“Gintoki.”

“..What?”

“My men had brought some women over. Maybe I can invite one to your room if you like—”

Much to his surprise, Gintoki had suddenly regained his strength and stopped on his tracks, now eager to hear more. “Really? Oi, oi, is that for free? You know that Gin-san here is penniless, so…”

“Yeah, it’s free. You can enjoy tonight to its fullest, Gintoki.”

“Alright! That settles it then!” he exclaimed in joy and crossed his arms against his chest. “Now then, I need to prepare myself for this. It’s been a long time after all. Man, I didn’t know that going here after that drunk terminator will give me such benefits! Will I keel over? Will I land myself into the sea of pleasure? Will I go rock hard into this and go Abarenbou Shogun? Oh man, I can’t wait!”

“Heh. You’re too excited for this, Gintoki. And aren’t you supposed to be drunk? Get back into the act, oi.”

“How could I still remain drunk if it’s going to be super hot later on? I’m gonna go get myself refreshed as soon as I arrive at my room!”

Katsura chuckled a bit, which made Gintoki a bit curious. This whole fiasco seemed to be so suspicious, since by no normal circumstances will Zura ever treat him to something like this. He won’t be acting like this unless he’s… hiding something.

“Oi, Zura—”

“Gintoki, what kind of girl do you want me to get for you? Do you prefer the Saotome Yumi type? The Katagiri Ayako type? Or maybe… you want the Kisagari Mio type? Ah, Gintoki, are you into geeks or something—”

“I prefer Kagami Mira types. Those bitchy types will most likely be willing for some very kinky plays.”

“Oh, but you shall never get Fujisaki Shiori-chan’s route! She’s my waifu, do you hear me?”

Gintoki chuckled at this. “Man, Zura, I knew that you’re into NTR and hence you’re most likely to be an M, but I never knew that you’re such an extreme M that you even want to obtain the most difficult girl in the franchise…”

“Of course! That’s the thrill of love simulation games! The thrill of Tokimeki Me—”

“Wait. You mean you play Tokimemo? That’s old! I thought you’re playing Love Plus+ on DS, but it seems that I’m still wrong!”

“Fool, of course I won’t abandon my dearest consoles! I played the Super Famicom, Sega Saturn and the PC Engine versions! Ah, and Shiori-chan is—”

“Wait. On second thought, I think I’ll go with a Nijino Saki type. Yeah. She’s my favorite, and I love her bentou. Right.”

Gintoki suddenly stopped walking, which made Katsura confused. “What’s the matter, Gintoki? Is something the matter?”

“Zura… when did you start playing bishoujo games? I thought you only play Mario and stuff!”

The Nobleman of Fury only stared at him for a moment before saying, “After that incident with Ikumatsu-dono’s father, Elizabeth brought me a game and I got addicted to it. That’s all.”

The silver-haired guy gave him a look of pity, which irritated the hell out of him. Knowing Gintoki, he just knew what that guy must’ve been thinking. He must be laughing at him secretly right now!

“Just so you know Gintoki, it’s not what you think it is okay? Oi! Are you listening to me?!”

“Right, right.” He only sped up his pace and picked his nose, not giving a damn about Zura’s excuses.

When Katsura bid him farewell as soon as they arrived in front of his room, Gintoki started to become nervous. After all, it’s not everyday that he’s gonna have a shot to do some puff-puff action with a very willing girl. And of course, when he says ‘puff-puff action’, he does not refer to that virginal blonde woman who becomes a drunk terminator upon a single sip of booze! That girl was the last person he wanted to see right at that moment, actually.

Taking a deep breath, his hands slowly prodded towards the shoji. He slid it open and took a peek inside, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one was there… yet. Walking inside the room, he yawned a bit and held his hand over his head as he was still dizzy from all the booze he drank. He flopped himself straight into the futon without even turning on the lights, the fact that there’s going to be a woman here to give him pleasure later on slowly fading out of his mind. He did not even bother changing into his jinbei as he only removed his white yukata, tossed it onto the floor, and slept wearing his usual black attire.

Closing his eyes and squirming under the covers, he tried to get some sleep until he felt something right in front of him. Unfortunately for him, he can barely see anything in the dark, so that wouldn’t help him at all. Taking all of his concentration into that matter, he could’ve sworn that he heard soft, almost inaudible breathing sounds from the ‘thing’ right in front of him.

He gulped. It couldn’t be those stands, right?

Sweat trickling down his skin, his hand slowly reached out to touch whatever it was right in front of him. It was kinda… round. And kinda smooth. And kinda… well, like that. That familiar feeling.

_W-What the hell is this…? This.. this oddly feels good for some reason…_

He groped at it again, and this time, even harder than before. He was startled when he heard someone make a weird sound when he did so—if he didn’t know better, he would pass it off as a moan. Still, this means that a woman was beside him, and that sound she made pretty much confirms it. Did Zura already send the woman beforehand?

Grumbling to himself, he slowly got up and shook the girl beside him. However, as soon as he did so, his blood pressure suddenly rose up as he got an idea on who it was beside him. Unable to accept it, he quickly ran towards the wall and switched on the light, only to find out that his suspicions were, indeed, confirmed.

Gintoki held his breath as soon as he saw who it was.

“T-Tsukuyo…? W-W-What are you doing here?”

The girl-in-question was still not in her usual self as she continued to brush her eyes with the back of her hand. Her hair was disheveled and she looked messy, and her jinbei was worn loose… and he can even see her white, creamy skin and her cleavage.

Needless to say, Gintoki was just like any other man. He cannot deny to himself that such a scene was a feast to his eyes. Blood was threatening to come out of his nose, and he tried his hardest not to ogle at her.

He gulped.

“O-Oi… T-Tsukuyo—”

Before he knew it, he was already struck by a barrage of kunais, with her successfully pinning him against the wall. She was blushing madly and her eyes even ended up as swirls due to embarrassment, especially when she recalled what just happened between the two of them. Add the fact that Katsura told her to seduce Gintoki, the fact that she took a peek at the stash of pornographic magazines that the bastard had given earlier, plus the fact that she was being accused of having feelings for that silver-haired moron, and well… she’s mentally and psychologically broken down right now. Totally.

Add the fact that the permed bastard right in front of her even groped her in her sleep!

Pissed off, she walked towards Gintoki and grabbed him by his jaw. “You freak…” she growled, still furious at what happened. “What the hell did you just do?! Why are you here in my room?! I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you, you damned bastard!”

Upon hearing this, Gintoki just stared at her, confused at what she had just said.

_Eh? Wait a minute here. Her room? Eeeeeh?! This is supposed to be my room, oi! Are you blind, Tsukki? This is my room! What are you doing in my room? I just wanted to have a good night’s sleep, so why the hell do I have to experience all of this?! And is Zura just messing with me? Hey, don’t tell me that he had purposely led me to her room?! I can’t believe this! And aren’t they supposed to be dating?!_

While Gintoki was busy freaking out about this incident in his head, Tsukuyo on the other hand was just as confused and freaked out as he was. After Katsura left her to fetch Gintoki, she was so sure that she went straight into her room, so how come the bastard is here? How did that bastard end up on her futon?

Still, the fact that Katsura had told her to seduce Gintoki kept on ringing on her head, and for some unknown reason, she actually decided to… try his suggestion.

“Oi, Gintoki…” she trailed off as she leaned closer towards him, giving him a suggestive look. “Did you… come here for some reason..?”

Gintoki took a huge gulp. He wasn’t sure what’s happening right now, but it feels as if there’s something really weird about the woman in front of him. Normally, she wouldn’t even be so attractive in his eyes, but now, as if he was under some weird spell, he felt as if her feminine charms were on full attack mode right now, and wasn’t she… somewhat.. seducing him?

His rational mind tried its best to convince him that such a thing couldn’t be true. His mind must be playing tricks on him. It’s just impossible for such a thing to happen. And as he thought of that, he suddenly came to a conclusion.

_Oi… isn’t something like this really suspicious? I mean.. there’s just no way in hell for both Zura and Tsukki to act like this! They’re acting really odd today! But they’re dating, aren’t they? What, is this their way of hiding the fact that they’re in a relationship? Eeeeh? Oi, I didn’t ask for something like this you bastards! I admit that I feel a bit odd since none of you guys actually told me about it, but you don’t have to cover it up through something like—_

All kinds of thoughts have disappeared on his head as soon as he noticed her slowly close the distance between them.

_H-Her face is too close, dammit! W-What the hell is going on? I… I… I—_

And as expected, all lewd thoughts that started to form in his head were suddenly thrown out the window when she turned beet red in embarrassment, and without a second thought, had mercilessly beaten him up until he lost consciousness.

**XOXOXOX**

Gintoki continued on staring at both Tsukuyo and Katsura the whole day. They managed to infiltrate the forces without raising any suspicion, although they had no choice but to enter Tsukuyo into the list of new recruits as a female. And as of now, they were walking towards their assigned places—since they’re new recruits, they were tasked to guard the grounds.

Needless to say, Gintoki was still distracted by the ‘couple’ in front of him and he just couldn’t concentrate on his work. He didn’t know why, but he somehow felt really annoyed to see the two of them together. And he was normally apathetic about things like this. What the hell is wrong with him? Why is he acting like this? And why now?

Grumbling to himself in a desperate attempt to distract himself, he then closed his eyes and tried to think of happy things that will somehow help him improve his mood. However, instead of thinking about his usual stuff such as parfaits and Ketsuno Ana, the memory of last night’s incident with Tsukuyo resurfaced once again.

He slapped himself on the face in order to bring him back to reality. There’s just no way could that be true, since Tsukuyo will never do something like that. It must’ve been the booze talking. Right.

Fortunately for him, his limited attention span caused him to forget about his earlier woes and was instead focused on his environment. He looked at everywhere in sight, and noticed that the other Sonjouroushi members weren’t doing their job at all.

Gintoki smirked at the sight of this. “They sure are damn too lax, aren’t they? Look, they aren’t even doing their job at all! Are they really a part of this group? At this rate, even the three of us can easily crush them!”

“Oi, keep quiet, Gintoki!” whispered Tsukuyo. “What if they hear us? That would be a disaster!”

“Oh come on. It’s alright. It’s not like they heard me anyway.”

After a few minutes of walking along the area, they then went their separate ways as their superior had assigned them to different places. And much to Gintoki’s ire, even though they were supposed to be assigned to different places, Zura was still sticking around Tsukki like a bee towards its honey and dammit, it pisses him off! Not that he had a reason to be pissed off, really. He didn’t understand it himself either.

But still, seeing his two friends happy at each other’s company is enough reason for him to be happy. So why doesn’t he feel that way right now?

He sighed.

“I better forget about this,” he told himself. “It doesn’t concern me anyway.”

Still, even though he had said such a thing, he couldn’t admit that he had somehow felt… lonely and out of place at their company.

“Lonely? Like hell I’d be lonely! I’m not lonely! I don’t really care at all!” he shrugged, as he directed his statement to no one but the author in particular.

**XOXOXOX**

She can still feel the scorching rays of the sun when a weird-sounding alarm reverberated throughout the grounds, which signified lunch time. And realizing this, Tsukuyo only shrugged and took a puff of smoke from her kiseru.

“What is this, a school? Is that supposed to be the school bell? How stupid,” she muttered to herself as she stood up from where she sat on the area. However, as soon as she did so, she then noticed that she had somehow pressed something on the wall. Upon a closer inspection, she found out that she had accidentally pressed on a brick and pushed it further. She then stopped on her tracks and waited for a bit, since as clichéd as it may sound, suspicious bricks like this serve as an entrance to some hidden pathway or something. Unfortunately for her, nothing of the sort happened.

“This is stupid,” she muttered under her breath. “It’s not like something will happen… this is reality after all, not fiction.”

She was about to walk away when she suddenly heard a faint thud coming from behind. Suspecting that it must’ve been the effect of what she did, she looked everywhere in sight but did not find any. “It must’ve been my imagination, huh?” she trailed off. “But I could’ve sworn that I’ve heard something. But… but where…?”

Her trail of thoughts was cut off short as soon as she heard Katsura and Gintoki call her to have lunch. And since he hadn’t found any and she wasn’t even sure about what happened, she then shrugged it off and told herself that it was all her imagination. She then walked towards the two.

**XOXOXOX**

Despite the fact that they’ve already defeated everyone that attacked them earlier, they found themselves surrounded once again. And what’s worse, since the number of enemies is large as compared to their own, they’re starting to get exhausted, and none of them found it difficult to defeat them, given the fact that no matter how hard they try to defeat them one by one, their numbers do not even seem to decrease.

“This is bad,” muttered Shinpachi as he continued on beating up their attackers. “If this goes on, then we’ll just be at a huge disadvantage. We’ve gotta find a way to stop this. There’s just no end to this at all!”

“But how are we going to do that?!” yelled Kagura. “We don’t even know what we should do next!”

Shinpachi was left speechless, as he knew that Kagura has a point. Indeed, even though they decided to defeat everyone in sight, they still don’t know if doing that will really solve this mess. Hell, they don’t even know if what that hardboiled-looking guy had said—the fact that there was a district-wide rally against them—was even true. What should they do now? Should they act on instinct and just proceed with their original plan? Or should they think this over and come up with a new solution?

“You should not think too much about it, Shinpachi-kun,” a voice from nowhere suddenly spoke. “Just do what your heart tells you to do. You have comrades here with you.”

The bespectacled guy was immediately filled with relief as soon as he saw the two women right in front of them. They also had their weapons in their hands, and without a doubt, these two easily paved their way among the mobs of enemies in the area.

“Kyuubei-san! Sacchan-san!”

The two women flashed them a smirk. Even though they were still being attacked by their enemies, they defeated them without breaking a sweat.

This is it — reinforcements have arrived!

“Tae-chan,” said the young Yagyuu as she scooted over the older Shimura. “I’ve come here to help you.”

She smiled at this. “Thanks for coming, Kyuu-chan. I just knew I could count on you!”

“Oi, Otae! I’m also here you know! How dare you forget about me!” exclaimed Sacchan, who also went towards the two women in order to fight with them back-to-back.

“Ah, of course Sarutobi-san! I’m thankful for your presence here as well! I’ll be sure to tell Gin-san that you happily died in battle, thank you very much!”

“Are you making fun of me? Who in their right mind will happily die in battle, you bitch—”

“That would be you, Sarutobi-san. You’re not in the right state of mind after all!”

“—Although if it’s that kind of battle with Gin-san, I don’t mind dying anytime—”

“Oi! Stop that perverted comment! This is a T-Rated fic!” exclaimed Shinpachi.

“—I’ll gladly die anytime if it’s for Gin-san! And of course I’ll be here! I won’t let anyone take my Gin-san away! Gin-san is mine!”

“No, Gin-san isn’t yours,” muttered Shinpachi. “He never became yours, you damn stalker.”

Ignoring the idiocy that was started by the idiotic stalker, Tae turned to Kyuubei and asked, “Kyuu-chan, what should we do now? We can’t go on like this. We need to do something or else—”

“Don’t worry, Tae-chan. I’ve got a plan.”

The gang stopped on their tracks as soon as they heard this.

“What we should focus on right now is on controlling the situation by turning it to our favor. When everything has been stabilized, then we should, by all means, try to clear Gintoki’s name. And in order to do that, we have to spread out and alleviate the tension among the civilians first.”

“Spread out? But we don’t have enough people, Kyuu-chan—”

“No worries. You’ve got the whole Yagyuu clan behind your back.”

“And don’t forget about me too!” chirped in Sacchan. “I’ve got my comrades at Oniwabanshuu with me as well!”

Upon seeing this, Kagura and Shinpachi could not help but to let out a smile. Even though there are plenty enemies surrounding them, with comrades like this, everything is sure to turn out just fine.

“Hey, didn’t something like this happen as well during the Kabuki-chou 4 Devas arc?” asked Kagura, which resulted the bespectacled straightman to give her an annoyed expression.

“It’s already perfect… and you just have to ruin it all because of that fourth wall breaking…”

**XOXOXOX**

Tsukuyo, Gintoki and Katsura were about to eat their lunch in the dining hall inside the main building of the headquarters. Seated on one of the benches, Katsura and Tsukuyo shared a bench while Gintoki, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found as he was the one who was forced to bring the food to the table after losing a game of janken to the two of them. Needless to say, such a fact only added to Gintoki’s ire as he kept on glancing back and forth to their table.

Katsura and Tsukuyo, on the other hand, were oblivious to the deadly stares that Gintoki kept on giving them.

“Tsukuyo-dono, how did the plan go? Was seducing Gintoki a success?”

The Shinigami Dayuu almost ran out of breath as soon as she heard this question. Memories from last night resurfaced into her mind once again, and she could not help but to feel so embarrassed at this. Did the events of last night really happen at all? Wasn’t it just a dream? A figment of her imagination?

Everything was still vivid on her memory—the way Gintoki had groped her breasts, the moment she had pinned him against the wall and… when she… approached him… seductively…

She felt like she was about to faint when the memory of her giving Gintoki a suggestive look came back to her senses. The way she had acted… the tone of her voice… the look on her eyes… the way she slowly crept her way towards him, as if she was about to close the distance between them… the fact that her own face was just a few inches away from his… All of these shameless acts were a stain on her innocent past, and she vowed to never think of it again. And in a desperate attempt on removing it from her mind, she punched herself hard on the face, much to Katsura’s surprise.

“T-Tsukuyo-dono! What happened? Your nose is bleeding!”

“I just got dizzy from the heat. Don’t worry about it.”

Katsura paused for a few seconds before saying, “From the look on your face I’ll assume that it didn’t work at all. Anyway… Tsukuyo-dono, I think we should make Gintoki jealous and purposely leave him out of the loop.”

“Huh? Why would I even do that?! I won’t that do that kind of thing again! And besides, I never accepted your offer in the first place!”

Much to Tsukuyo’s dismay, it was right at that time when Gintoki came back and brought their food at the table. And even then, his gaze still never left the two as he kept on cursing the fact that he’s becoming so much pissed off over the fact that Zura even had the gall to flirt with Tsukuyo right in front of him. The nerve of that guy!

“Oi Zura, what do you think we should do for tomorrow? Are we going to go here as well?”

Katsura ignored his question. Instead, he initiated another conversation with Tsukuyo about her favorite things or something of the sort, and he only talked to him when he’s trying to get affirmation or opinion on any topic. Tsukuyo, on the other hand, only glanced back at him from time to time and never even bothered to say a single word to him.

“O-Oi… Zura… Tsukki…”

No matter how much he tried to pry into their conversation though, they still kept on talking with each other as if he didn’t even exist and they’ve only got the whole world by themselves. And due to this, he became even more irritated, until it reached the point where he became really infuriated… especially at Zura, for no reasons whatsoever. It just… happened.

And thus, right after eating their lunch, Gintoki excused himself and Zura for a bit. They were now outside the main hall, and since everyone was still eating, only he and the Nobleman of Fury were around.

Seeing that Gintoki had that annoyed and disturbed look on his face, Katsura knew that his plan is going well. What’s the purpose of calling him here though? Surely, it could only be that.

“Zura, are you and Tsukki dating?”

And indeed, he wasn’t wrong at all.

“Not cutting to the chase, aren’t we? Such a straightforward man. Why did you think so anyway?”

Facing this kind of question left Gintoki speechless. Indeed, why on Earth did he think of such a thing?

But still, since he’ll answer the same question sooner or later anyway, he gave up on thinking about it and only said the first thing that appeared on his head.

“You guys stick around each other like flies ever since we arrived at the village. In fact, you’re so damn close that one will even think that you’re the one who knew her longer than me.”

“So?”

“So that’s why… well, I am just curious about it, actually. I mean, Tsukuyo doesn’t know anything about relationships at all, since you know, she even went as far as abandoning her own femininity or something. And besides, aren’t you into Ikumatsu? I don’t know why you’re acting like that with her, but you better stop it.”

Katsura inwardly grinned at this. “Why? I ain’t doing anything. Is there any particular reason?”

“T-There’s no particular reason for it, okay?! I… I just don’t like it, that’s all!”

Much to Gintoki’s surprise, Katsura suddenly laughed, which made him extremely embarrassed.

“Oi! What the hell, Zura?! Why the hell are you laughing, you bastard!”

Katsura was still holding himself back from laughing too much, especially when faced with such a confused look from his childhood friend. “It’s not like that at all, Gintoki. I and Tsukuyo-dono aren’t dating. There’s nothing between us at all.”

Gintoki heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He grumbled to himself and scratched his head in annoyance, and then—

..Eh? Just now, did I just… sigh in relief? No way, I didn’t do something like that, it’s impossible!

As Gintoki tried to deny to himself the obvious, Katsura suddenly stood up and faced him with a serious look.

“Although I admit, the idea of Tsukuyo-dono and I being in a relationship isn’t too farfetched.”

Such words made Gintoki infuriated immediately, and before he could even say anything, Katsura ran away as fast as he could, living to the name of ‘Runaway Kotarou’ that he is.

**XOXOXOX**

Today was another day for another stakeout, and thus, it was only appropriate for him to buy his beloved anpan, which was already customary for such missions. Heaving a deep sigh as he knew that he’ll under be the spell of anpan for quite a while, he made his way towards the convenience store in order to buy the treat when he caught sight of a green-haired android running straight through the streets of Kabuki-chou in a hurry.

“T-Tama-san…”

His face flushed due to the memory of his beloved crush, Yamazaki Sagaru almost dropped the bags of anpan on his hand when he suddenly got the urge to do a stakeout on her instead, his mission be damned. And without wasting another second, he followed Tama as she ran as fast as she could, until she stopped and entered a suspicious-looking mechanical shop.

“Gengai-sama, I’ve come here for my earlier request,” she said after greeting the older man who, by all means, seems to be the resident mechanic. Yamazaki only swallowed the huge lump on his throat as he waited for the events to commence.

“Are you really sure about that? Would doing this really help Ginnoji?” asked the old man named Gengai, into which Tama responded with a nod. “I know that he’s sealed and everything, but there’s always the possibility that he might go on a rampage again. Are you still willing to go through with this?”

“What happened in the past will never happen again, Gengai-sama,” replied Tama, her resolve apparent in her voice. “And besides, I believe that only he can help us in our problem.”

Seeing that she had already made up her mind and that he won’t be able to convince her otherwise, he let out a sigh and relented to her wishes. He then looked behind him and moved his hand as if telling someone to come over.

Yamazaki almost choked to death as soon as he saw the man who just entered his field of vision.

_D-Danna…?_

The man looked a lot like the Yorozuya boss, Sakata Gintoki—he had the same build, the same face, the same overwhelming aura—although in his case, this man in front of him conquered all of Danna’s complexes, as he had straight, golden hair, and his eyes were much sharper as compared to Danna’s droopy ones. He even wore the same clothes as Danna, albeit inverted and in different colors.

_N-No… this one isn’t Danna at all. Then… who is he? Is he Danna’s twin or something? His bestfriend? [1] D-Did Tama-san come here for him…? Why… why is that golden guy with Tama-san? Don’t tell me that they’re in a relationship!_

However, despite the blinding aura that this golden guy exuded, Tama was completely unfazed.

“We meet again. I suppose you’ve behaved yourself well over these past few months, right?”

The man called Kin-san only flashed her a smirk. “Tch. I didn’t expect you to go look for me, especially after what I did to you last time.”

_L-Last time…? Did last time?! What did they do last time?! No… no… T-Tama-san…!_

Unable to take this any longer, the brokenhearted Yamazaki ran away from the scene with all his might. And as he did so, all of his (supposed) memories with Tama kept on replaying on his head, as he tried his hardest to stop the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes.

**XOXOXOX**

As Gintoki and Katsura told her to go ahead of them, Tsukuyo then went back to her assigned area. She tried her best to concentrate on her mission, although she failed at that eventually as she became even more tempted to go back to what she had discovered earlier—that suspicious-looking brick on the wall which she had accidentally pressed on. Deciding that nothing will happen if she checked it out, she then did so, only to find nothing in sight.

“Well, this is to be expected anyway. I shouldn’t have expected anything from this. I’m such a fool.”

Sighing to herself, she then took a step back when she suddenly lost her footing. And as dictated by the laws of Physics, she then found herself falling down as soon as she realized that her feet could not feel the ground anymore. She then ended up on the cold pavement, and found herself inside an unfamiliar place underground.

She took a closer inspection upon the area. This underground chamber wasn’t in the blueprint at all—which only meant that this one is a secret base of some sorts. Pushing her luck even further, Tsukuyo decided to check out the area. She only planned on checking the place for a bit before reporting this to her two friends waiting at the surface, and thus, she entered some of the rooms—but found nothing at all. All of the rooms which she had entered were empty and didn’t even have a single piece of furniture in it. Realizing that it was just a huge waste of her time, she was about to go back to the surface before someone sees her when she heard someone talking at the far end of the room next door.

She couldn’t hear it clearly, but she knew that there were two men talking at the room next to her. Curiosity taking the best out of her, she leaned closer towards the wall in order to eavesdrop on them.

“If I follow your plan, then I’ll be able to take the position of Shogun for myself, right?”

“Of course you will,” the other man, the one with the deeper voice, replied. “All you have to do is to dispose that candidate from the Hitotsubashi faction and you’ll easily get the opportunity to seize the throne. It’s like killing two birds with one stone, isn’t it?”

The man laughed at this. “But how ironic is this… I never thought that after disposing the roju, I’ll also get the opportunity to dispose the Shogun as well! Tenkuu no Shiro—that will serve as Shigeshige’s tomb!”

Tsukuyo was baffled at what she had just discovered. The two men from next door were talking about such outrageous things that even she was having trouble on processing all of the information that she obtained. From what she can gather though, it’s confirmed that the one behind the roju’s assassination was a member of the Sonjouroushi. And to make things worse, as if the roju’s death wasn’t enough, they even plan to assassinate the Shogun as well! Seeing that something as crucial as this is needed to be known by Gintoki and Katsura, she decided to go back before the two men next door could even discover her presence. But before she could even do so, she was surprised to hear something she didn’t ever expect.

“Uehara, you really are one hell of a greedy bastard, aren’t you?”

Sweat trickled down her skin. This is it. That’s the bastard, Uehara—and it looks like their suspicions are correct. And now, the only thing she needs to know is who’s that person with him—

“But I’m not the only one, am I? After all, you’re the one who has a beast in you, _Takasugi-san_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nushi ni Todoke – Parody of the shoujo manga Kimi ni Todoke. Nushi, by the way, is the oiran dialect equivalent of ‘kimi,’ or ‘you.’
> 
> Hanazakari no Nushitachi he – Parody of the shoujo manga Hanazakari no Kimitachi he, also known as Hana Kimi. This manga involves cross-dressing as the main girl poses as a boy in order to enter an all-boys’ school.
> 
> Sunday – Weekly Shounen Sunday, one of the big three shounen manga magazines, published by Shogakukan.
> 
> Magazine – Weekly Shounen Magazine, one of the big three shounen manga magazines, published by Kodansha.
> 
> Margaret, Hana to Yume, Nakayoshi, Betsucomi – Shoujo manga magazines published by Shueisha, Hakusensha, Kodansha and Shogakukan, respectively. (Google is your friend if you want to know more about the publishers.)
> 
> Abarenbou Shogun – A very popular televised period drama in Japan. It has been referenced in Gintama quite a few times before. (Sorachi even mentions this and the main star, Matsudaira Ken, in his interviews.)
> 
> Katagiri Ayako, Saotome Yumi, Kisagari Mio – The heroines in the first Tokimeki Memorial game. (The one for boys okay, not the Girl’s Side one. That’s another story. *grin*)
> 
> Kagami Mira – One of the heroines in the first Tokimeki Memorial game. She’s supposed to be the bitch type there, so Gintoki concluded that he can easily persuade her to do some very kinky plays.
> 
> Fujisaki Shiori – The main heroine in the first Tokimeki Memorial game and the clichéd osananajimi, I mean childhood friend, of the hero / player. Aside from being the poster girl of the series, she was also the hardest route to obtain, apparently.
> 
> Nijino Saki – One of the most popular heroines in the first Tokimeki Memorial game, who even got her own game due to her extreme popularity. I made Gintoki choose her eventually since she is Sugita Tomokazu’s favorite heroine in the first TokiMemo game, in fact he even tried making Nijino’s bentou when he was in high school by just looking at the pixels. By the way, if you’ve seen that certain 4Gamer.TV episode, you’ll learn that Sugita’s one hell of a good cook just like Gintoki! *shot for fangirling*
> 
> Love Plus+ - It’s quite late, but it caused quite a boom in Japan back in 2010. This is a real time dating sim game by the way. Remember the Love Choris episode? (Pinko!) That’s the game that was being parodied back then.
> 
> Genkan – traditional Japanese entryway areas for a house, apartment or building.
> 
> Janken – the rock-paper-scissors game.
> 
> Tenkuu no Shiro – Castle in the Sky
> 
> [1] Sakata Kintoki’s seiyuu, Nakamura Yuuichi, is Sugita’s bestfriend. Well, the reference is kinda vague, but I am a huge fan of the both of them. (You-kyan~! Sugitaaaaaaaan~! *kicked*)


	19. No one would ever know what he truly means to us

Tsukuyo couldn’t remember the last time she had ever ran like this.

 It’s as if her feet had a mind of its own. She didn’t know why, but she felt extremely anxious and scared for no reason at all. Why was she even running as if her life depended on it? Did something big happen that she even have to do something like this? She’s overreacting, perhaps. But saying that doesn’t change the fact that she had discovered something really big, something really important and that she was just placed into a grave situation—that if she was ever discovered, then it will probably be the end of her.

  _“Uehara, you really are one hell of a bastard, aren’t you?”_

_“But I’m not the only one, am I? After all, you’re the one who has a beast in you, Takasugi-san.”_

Those words still kept on ringing in her ears. Indeed, she had a gut feeling that the place which she had found seemed to be really suspicious, but never did she expect it to be like this.

 First and foremost, she had found where that bastard Uehara Zennosuke was—which only meant that their infiltration was a success, since their main purpose for that is to find him and make him pay for what he did to Shinpachi and Kagura, as well as to clear Gintoki’s name. And now that they have finally made progress, it is only apt that they should make a move.

 But she did make a move. Although she almost did not make it. Barely. At least, in her own opinion.

 After all, as soon as she realized that she had entered the enemy’s lair unarmed, she immediately made her way to a quick escape without making a single sound, without anyone seeing or noticing her—but she failed. She made a sound when she accidentally knocked down on something, and as soon as that happened, she felt as if she had just met her end.

  _Dead end._

Her blunder didn’t faze her, however. As if an adrenaline rush filled her senses, she just ran and ran until she reached the surface, and continued to run until she had gone far away from her assigned place. She needed to get away from there. She needed to find Gintoki and Katsura immediately. And she can only hope that no one noticed what happened, and that they had just passed it off as a mouse or something. It is highly unlikely, yes, but all she can do is hope. As for now, all that she can do is to find someone on her side.

 It was then when the silver-colored epiphany had hit her.

 “Gintoki!”

 She screamed his name in haste, hoping that she’ll somehow catch his attention as he looked so deep in his thoughts (which is kinda rare, especially for a person like him) that he won’t even bat an eye at anyone. Luckily, her voice managed to reach him.

 He stood up from the bench that he was sitting on, his hands neatly kept inside his kimono. Even though he was wearing a typical uwagi and hakama, it still suited him as he looked like some kind of warrior—well, he is, but that’s another story.

 With his dead fish-eyes looking at her, his earlier deep-in-thought expression seemed as if it never existed in the first place. As long as he looked like that, one can never know what he’s thinking.

 “Sup? You seem to be in a rush. What’s with the big hurry? You’re in a marathon or something?”

 Stopping on her tracks and breathing heavily so as to catch her breath, Tsukuyo stood a few steps right in front of Sakata Gintoki.

 “I ain’t in a marathon, and I ain’t have any plans on joining anything like that. Anyway, it’s a good thing that you’re here. I need to tell you something. You see, I just—”

 “You’re finally telling me about _that_ , aren’t you? That person you’re dating?”

 “Yeah, it’s that—w- _what?!_ ”

 “It’s _that_ , you know. _That._ Don’t tell me you’re feigning innocence again? You can’t hide it from me. Gin-san has noticed it from early on.”

 Tsukuyo gave him a piercing glare. “What the hell are you talking about? Are you sure you don’t have any loose screws or something? You’re spouting nonsense, you permed bastard. Anyway, stop that—I still have something I need to tell you guys. Tell me, where is Katsura? He needs to know about this too.”

 The Shinigami Tayuu did not know what just happened, but something weird happened with Gintoki as soon as she had mentioned Katsura’s name. The serious look that he had before she had approached him came back to his face, as if his friend’s name was somewhat of a trigger to make his mood turn sour. Whatever the reason behind it though, it wasn’t important. There are still things that are needed to be discussed upon.

 “ _Katsura,_ huh..?” trailed off Gintoki with an irritated tone, which made her even more confused. “So you’re not denying it anymore…”

 “Huh? Denying what? What’s going on, Gintoki?”

 Gintoki took a deep breath and faced her with a stern look.

 “You and Zura are dating, aren’t you?”

 She almost choked herself to death at the mention of this.

 “W-What?! Are you freakin’ serious? Where the hell did you get that idea? How can you say such a thing, you creepy bastard! I ain’t dating anyone! I ain’t going out with him!”

 “You say that, but I know that you’re just hiding it from me. Gin-san’s hurt you know? It’s because Tsukki kept on hiding things from me… And here I thought that we’re friends…”

 “Is that your way of asking me to give you the beating of your life..? Yeah, that’s what you wanted to say, right? That’s the reason why you kept on spouting such nonsense… You know, if you don’t stop now then I really am going to rip you up to pieces—”

 “Suit yourself! All I know is that you’re hiding things from me and you didn’t even tell me about it! Hey, since when did the two of you start dating huh? I mean, the two of you didn’t know even know each other that well…”

 “Gintoki…”

 “—It must’ve been that way because Zura’s an idiot, isn’t it? Do you have a thing for idiots? Man, that’s a waste. Zura’s a bad choice alright. Well, it’s not like it concerns me or anything but…”

 “Oi, Gintoki…”

 “—All you need to know is that I know about your relationship! No worries, I’ll keep quiet from all the Yoshiwara folks so you can just trust your secret with me!”

 “Oi, Gintoki! You goddamned bastard!” she shouted furiously, not being able to take it all anymore. When he still didn’t stop on spouting nonsense, she then skewered him with all the kunais which she had hidden on her obi. That method seemed to have worked, much to her relief.

 He was now lying on the ground with a kunai on his head, being all immobile and docile. “You bitch… what the hell did you just do…?”

 “I’m the one who should ask you that, you bastard,” she growled. “I don’t have time for your nonsense. Take it somewhere else. I’ve come here to tell you something really important, but with the way you are right now, I really shouldn’t tell it to you. I’m leaving.”

 “Oi, where are you going?” asked Gintoki as he started to get up on the ground, fixing himself up from the mess that he had been before. “Don’t tell me… you’re going to Zura, aren’t you?”

 She turned her back on him and was about to leave when she replied, “Yeah. I’ll go see Katsura. At least he’ll listen to me, unlike you. See ya.”

 And with that, she took a step forward and walked away. At least, that’s what she’s supposed to do. However, she found herself unable to do such a thing since she suddenly found her wrist being held in a tight grip, as if the owner of that hand had no intention of letting her go.

 It took her a moment to realize that it was actually Gintoki who was holding her, as if stopping her from leaving. And she didn’t understand that.

 “G-Gintoki… what are you doing? Let me go,” she said in an attempt to brush off his hold on her. “Gintoki! Can you even hear me? I said let go!”

 She was only replied back with a serious look from the silver-haired man in front of her.

  _“Don’t go,”_ he said softly, almost like a whisper, but still loud enough for her to hear.

 “Eh?”

 “Don’t go to him.”

 Tsukuyo blinked a few times, confusion filling her senses. “Huh? What are you talking about, Gintoki? Are you really sure you’re alright?”

 “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied. “Just… stay. Don’t you dare go to him.”

 “What do you mean by that? You’ve been acting really odd since yesterday, Gintoki. Who are you referring to anyway? Katsura? Why shouldn’t I go to _him_? But even if you say so, I really need to go and see him, he needs to know about this—”

 “Didn’t you hear a word of what I’ve said? I said don’t you dare go to him!” he shouted furiously, which surprised her since she had never seen him act like this just because of something so petty. Irritation getting the best out of her, she put aside her recent discovery, opting to argue with him instead.

 “Quit acting like a whiny little kid, Gintoki! Tell me, why shouldn’t I go to him? Didn’t he come here with you in order to help us? That’s why it’s only fair if I tell him about this too! And why are you so against the idea of me going to Katsura? The fact that I’ll go see him is none of your damn business!”

 Gintoki was taken aback by this. Indeed, it is none of his business if Zura and Tsukki had gone dating each other. It’s their life, and it’s not his. It doesn’t concern him at all. So why is he so damn irritated whenever she mentions Zura?

 “I-I don’t know. I just don’t like it,” he finally said, as if convincing both her and himself of such a fact. “It just irritates me, that’s all.”

 “Then you shouldn’t be. I don’t see why you should be affected by it. Unless… you have a _reason_ on why you should be. So, what is it? Why are you acting like this? It’s not like you, Gintoki.”

 Confronted with such a blunt question, Gintoki found himself in a pinch as even he himself did not know the answer to her question. Actually, that fact only crossed his mind just now. Why was he even so affected by this? Why does he become so irritated whenever he sees Zura and Tsukki together? Why is he so pissed off by the fact that the both of them are dating? Why did he stop her from going to him, even though he did not even have a reason to do so?

 Reluctant and unsure of what to do, Gintoki had loosened his hold on the Shinigami Tayuu. He grumbled to himself. “Alright, I understand. It’s your win,” he hissed, his irritation becoming more apparent by the second. Tsukuyo, on the other hand, was about to leave when an alarm suddenly rang throughout the headquarters, and before she knew it, she was suddenly dragged towards a dark alley, away from the eyes of the other Sonjouroushi members who were about to pass their way to where they are.

 Confused at everything that just happened in a matter of seconds, Tsukuyo tried to think about their current situation. Since an alarm had gone out, then it only meant one thing: she was discovered. And that also meant that they needed to get away from there now. But here she was, hiding in an alleyway with an idiot holding her from behind, his arms encircled across her waist and his hand covering her mouth to prevent her from making any sound.

 The same idiot whom she had argued with earlier because he thought that she was dating someone she didn’t even know that well.

  _If only he knew…_

 She removed his hand that was covering her mouth and looked at him. “Oi, Gintoki… they’re already gone, you can let go of me now.”

 Gintoki did not budge. In fact, he did not even move a single inch and only continued to look down the ground. His expression was obscured by his position and by the lack of light in the area. He did not even make a single sound. He still held her tight in the dark, his hands were still on her waist, and his hand that was once placed on her mouth was now on her chest; she was about to do a suplex on him for that, but—

 She was surprised to find him leaning against her, holding her tight in his arms from behind. He even leaned his head against the side of her neck, and he was so close that she can even feel his warm breath against her skin.

 Confused at the sudden act of affection—if that can even be counted as such—she reached out to the hand that was settled on her chest and brushed her fingers against it.

 “G-Gintoki…?”

 Her heart was beating so fast, so fast that she even thought that it would burst. All kinds of emotions filled her at that moment that she didn’t even know which one is the one she’s really feeling right now. She’s probably all flushed now, she’s sure of it, so it’s a good thing that it’s dark or else she doesn’t know what she’ll do if Gintoki ever sees her like that.

 All that she knew was that it was because Gintoki was hugging her from behind that she was feeling such emotions. Only he can invoke such emotions in her.

 Only _he_ can make her feel like this, and no one else can.

 “Don’t say anything else. Even I do not know what I’m doing,” he whispered against her ear. She wasn’t sure if he did that on purpose or it was just coincidental, but his husky voice made her all weak and mushy inside. Anything else and she’s going to go insane, most probably.

 “..Gin..toki?”

 “Give me ten seconds. After that, we’ll go back to the village and look for Zura, okay?”

 She doesn’t know if he’s referring to his hug or to the fact that they’re in hiding, but since he asked for a few seconds, then she’ll just let it be.

 After all, every second spent with him holding her like that felt like hours, to be honest.

  **XOXOXOX**

“We’ve finally arrived here.”

Taking a look at his surroundings, Sakata Kintoki only wore a smirk on his face as he realized that the green-haired android had brought him to a place which he had never been into before, and can only see from afar—the Edo Tower.

“Why did you bring me to a place like this?” he asked, amused. “I don’t remember doing anything that will warrant me to be in a place such as this. What exactly do you want from me, anyway?”

“I’ve already decided to let bygones be bygones,” replied Tama with a serious tone, which did not escape his attention. “Kintoki-sama, we are both robots saved by one person—by Gintoki-sama. The reason we are here living our lives is because of him. And now that he needs us, it is only apt that we should pay back our debt to him.”

Kintoki chuckled at this. “Debt? I don’t remember having any debts towards that guy. Are you sure you aren’t hallucinating?”

“Gintoki-sama has already colored you silver a long time ago. If it weren’t for his influence, as well as Shinpachi-sama and Kagura-sama’s pleas, you would have already been disposed of.”

“I wouldn’t deny that.” He took a few steps towards the glass wall and stared at the scenery right in front of him. They were now at the uppermost floor of the tower, and he can even see all throughout Edo from above—in the right is the top of the Edo castle, and he can even see the ruckus that is happening on the streets.

_Ruckus… is that why she had brought me here?_

“Tell me, what exactly is happening outside?” he asked, looking back at the green-haired android behind him. “Is this connected with this Sakata Gintoki?”

Tama nodded. “It is exactly what you can see. Gintoki-sama was accused of something he did not do, and supporters of the opposing party have been looking for him. They are now rampaging because of that.”

Sakata Kintoki was no idiot. He can clearly see the situation at hand; heck, he can even see clearly how serious it was! And as for the reason why he’s brought at the Tower, he can see it clearly as well—after all, they are in _Edo Tower_ , the center of all communications throughout the whole country.

“Let me guess—you want to use me to fix up all this mess, don’t you? Sorry, but I just can’t do that. If you plan on using my memory modification abilities, I can’t do that on a large-scale basis. You can’t possibly expect me to modify the memories of all the people throughout Edo, can you?”

“As expected of the perfect Yorozuya leader. You have deduced it correctly,” replied Tama with a smile. “Indeed, I did plan to do just that. And don’t worry, that is the reason why we’re here anyway. After all, this tower is supposed to be the center of all communications. Modifying the memories of all the people throughout Edo is possible.”

“Oi oi, are you even serious? I was able to do that before since it was only throughout Kabuki-chou; how can I even modify all the memories of all the people throughout Edo? Even if it’s me, I don’t have the capabilities to do that.”

“As I’ve said before, you should not worry about that. Aren’t you the perfect Yorozuya leader, Sakata Kintoki? Then something like this should be a piece of cake. And besides, I’ve already asked Gengai-sama to take care of that problem. The only thing left now is you.”

“So you plan on using Edo Tower so as to generate and disperse the needed energy waves for hypnosis? How stupid,” he remarked. “But okay, I guess there’s no harm on trying it… but you better compensate me afterwards. Someday, I’ll take the protagonist position for myself.”

Tama smiled at this. “Of course. And when you do something stupid again, then I’ll be the one to take you out.”

Chuckling to himself, Kintoki walked away and went to the centermost part of the area. He was about to start modifying everyone’s memories when he said, “I won’t assure you that this would be effective, and I doubt that this would actually work at all. However, this would only be effective if that man is truly important to the people out there, as strong feelings sometimes make the simplest miracles come true.”

Tama was undeterred and did not even hesitate despite what he said.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I am sure… I’m sure that Gintoki-sama is loved by everyone. The bonds that they have forged over 265 episodes and 460+ chapters would not be broken. You knew it firsthand.”

Kintoki laughed upon hearing this.

“Bonds, huh…? Let’s how strong those so-called ‘bonds’ of yours are.”

**XOXOXOX**

According to Yagyuu Kyuubei, the people are trying to break their way to Snack Otose in order to search for Gintoki. They have spread out across the streets in order to stir up a commotion that will force the silver-haired samurai to show himself to them, and that’s what they’re trying to prevent. And thus, they have decided to spread out as well and stop them.

Shimura Tae, together with a band of cabaret girls from Snack Smile, arrived at one of the streets near Snack Otose. She had left the place under the care of Shinpachi and Kagura, while she and the others went out in order to alleviate the situation from the outside. When she arrived at the aforementioned place, a rampage had already been started by a group of armed men, and they were about to go to where her brother and the others were.

Holding her naginata tightly in her hand, she pointed the blade towards the neck of one of the men. Some of them flinched at the notion.

Tae gave them a menacing smile, one that carried a lot of evil intent behind it. “Hold it right there. Where do you think you’re going? You’re not going to get past through me, you bastards.”

The men laughed at this. “What do you think you can do? I mean, what can a group of cabaret girls possibly do against us? You’re being ridiculous, miss.”

“Yeah! They’re probably just talk and all!” one of them also sneered. “I bet they couldn’t even handle a decent fight!”

“You guys better go home now before something bad happens to you, miss!”

Not able to take the insults any further, Tae’s smile became even more tainted with negative vibes that the people who knew better started to stay off-limits. Without wasting a second, she walked towards them and grabbed the jaw of one of the armed men, which only meant one thing: she was about to wreak havoc upon their lot.

“You think us girls can’t do anything, huh? Don’t underestimate us. Don’t you know who you’re talking to? You’re only talking to the _queen_ of Kabuki-chou!” she boldly declared, hoping that they will learn not to mess with her. And truth be told, she thought that it will end by doing that. She thought that only the armed men were her enemies.

But she was wrong.

“Why are you doing this?” asked one of the bystanders who witnessed the scene unfold. “They only ask for justice! They want justice for the roju’s death, and we won’t be able to achieve justice if the alleged suspect isn’t caught!”

“That’s right,” agreed another bystander, “and why are you even siding with them? You should side with the roju! He’s the one aggravated in this!”

“I bet that Sakata Gintoki guy was just a worthless human being! I mean, he was even able to murder the roju—”

_Stop it._

“I heard that he’s just a useless bum who was a notorious criminal. Rumor has it that he even caused a ruckus in the Edo Castle not too long ago… Heck, I heard that he even got involved in the _tsujigiri_ that happened recently… ”

“Eh? So that explains why he’s such a ruffian.. He’s probably one of those criminals, isn’t he?”

_Just stop it._

“I don’t care who that guy is, but I just want him to be arrested! I can’t forgive him for what he did to Masayasu-sama!”

“Yeah! They should let that guy be beheaded! He deserves it!”

“Ah, since this woman is defending that guy, does that mean that she’s his woman?”

“Eh? What woman? That’s obviously a guy! Look, she’s like _Robert de Flato!_ ”

Infuriated, Tae wasted no more time and punched the guys in the stomach, making them unconscious. Her smile never left her face as she continued on beating up the armed men.

“Who the hell are you calling a man, huh? Who the hell do you think you’re referring to as Robert de Flato?! I can hear everything that you say, you bastards!” she screeched in irritation. “And for your information, I’m not Gin-san’s woman, and I will never be! Even I have standards!”

But the people did not take heed of it. They still continued on badmouthing Gintoki, which left a bad aftertaste on her, much to her dismay. Unable to take it any longer, she broke a smirk and chuckled to herself a bit afterwards.

Seriously, what are you guys even talking about? You’re all spouting nonsense, you bastards. Do you actually think that Gin-san is like that? Think again.”

She took a step forward.

“Shin-chan and Kagura-chan look up to him. He is important to them. And what’s important to them is important to me as well. That’s the main reason why I’m here.”

She started walking towards them, with the latter starting to quiver in fear.

“Gin-san may be a heartless bastard. Gin-san may be a rotten bastard down to the core. Gin-san might not be the perfect kind of guy, but I am certain of one thing—he’s certainly a good man.”

As soon as she said that, memories of the times she had spent together with the aforementioned silver-haired samurai flooded into her mind. True, he is a lazy, good-for-nothing guy and nothing good will probably come out by hanging out with him. But despite that fact, despite knowing that, people still flock to him, people naturally approach him like flies that she at times cannot help but wonder what sort of charisma that guy has that he’s able to charm people around him like this.

Heck, he even managed to charm her own brother on the very same day that they had met!

Indeed, that guy is a total mess. But she knew what people can see in him. She knew what her brother can see in him. She can see it as well. That is why… she won’t allow anyone to taint his name just like this.

“For me, and to everyone else out there who has been protected by him, Gin-san is important, and we will protect him at all costs.”

Her tone carried a hint of her resolve and sincerity. In fact, she had said it with such sincerity that the people who had noticed this even saw how serious she was when she said that.

“Why… why are you going so far just for the sake of that man…? Why are you willing to put your lives on the line just for him?”

Tae, much to their surprise, gave them a smile—a very sincere smile, at that.

“It’s obvious. He’s the most selfless man I’ve ever met… that is, _when it counts._ ”

  **XOXOXOX**

“Move out of the way. I won’t allow you to take a step closer from here. No matter what you do, it’s useless; you won’t find the one you’re seeking for in there.”

On another street on the way to Snack Otose stood Yagyuu Kyuubei, the sole heir to the prestigious Yagyuu-ke. Behind her is her most loyal lackey, Toujou Ayumu, as well as the rest of the Yagyuu clan.

Just like in the other streets near Snack Otose, the roju’s supporters have confronted them about Gintoki. They tried to pass their way through and break away from the Yagyuu clan’s forces, but to no avail. They weren’t even able to put a scratch on them.

They were frustrated, perhaps. Kyuubei can understand what they felt, if her impressions of them proved to be right. They are loyal to the roju and will do everything for him—she knew all of that too well. After all, she is loyal to a certain someone and will probably wreak havoc if something bad ever happened to her.

 However, she had to set her priorities straight. And for her, what’s important to Tae-chan is important to her as well. Since the man, Sakata Gintoki, is important to the young brunette, she will do everything in her power to protect that man, even though it meant that it might also put a smear on her name.

 “You’re the ones who should move out of the way,” said one of the roju’s supporters. “No matter what happens, we will seek justice for what happened to Masayasu-sama. And besides, that guy is probably a loser anyway, so what good will you guys achieve by protecting him?”

 Kyuubei cannot help but be irritated by what that guy had said about Gintoki. True, he was a loser in so many ways, but he has definitely earned the respect that he deserves. At least, in her own book, Sakata Gintoki was not a loser. She was about to say that to the guy, but much to her surprise, Toujou had beaten her on it.

 “You guys shouldn’t be saying such things,” said Toujou Ayumu with a straight face, which surprised the young Yagyuu. “Gintoki-dono is a better man than what any of you have concluded.”

 Such a statement coming from the guy who only kept on talking about shower curtains and Lolita dresses brought a smile on her face, as she definitely didn’t expect such a thing from him. “It’s true,” she then said, “I believe that Gintoki is not capable of doing such things—he held such a high sense of honor that it’s even unthinkable that he’ll do that.”

 Toujou was teary-eyed as he continued to stare at his master in awe. “Young master…”

 “And besides, Tae-chan’s trust in him only proves that he was certainly worth protecting. Because of that, I am willing to risk anything just so I could clear his name.”

  **XOXOXOX**

Sarutobi Ayame felt extremely exhausted. Unlike the other supporters of the roju who were faced by both Tae and Kyuubei earlier, hers were much tougher than she’d thought. And since the guys can fight decently, she knew that they’re not your ordinary guys at all—they’re probably vigilantes, heck, they might even be members of the Sonjouroushi or even former Jouishishi, she’ll never know. All that she knew right now was that she needed backup as fast as she could. Ten people against one is too much for her to handle, especially if the people are almost at the same level as she was, after all.

“Dammit, why did this kind of thing only happen to me?” she muttered to herself, anxious and pissed off at her uselessness. Usually, fights of this level were a piece of cake, but now she’s having a hard time with it. Her skills are becoming rusty, perhaps. But why? Was it a side effect of stalking Gin-san? Was it because she’d rather spend more time on following Gin-san around rather than doing her actual job of assassination?

 _Rather than assassinating random thugs, I’d rather assassinate Gin-san’s heart,_ she decided.

But now wasn’t the time for that. She’s becoming really distracted.

Perhaps, is this the so-called ‘Gin-san Withdrawal’? She missed him so much. Given the fact that he went after that kunoichi bitch named Tsukki, she probably must’ve used love potions on him or something. But anyway, she’ll let it slide for now, since she’ll give her own love to Gin-san tenfold once he sets foot back to Kabuki-chou.

_Ah, I really miss Gin-san—_

“Sacchan! Look out!”

Distracted and seemingly lost in her thoughts filled with Sakata Gintoki, Sacchan was surprised that she was about to be attacked with a katana when someone had suddenly shouted her name. Opening her eyes and staring at the spectacle in front of her, she was surprised to find two older men on her side, blocking the attack that was supposed to hit her.

“Y-You guys are…”

The two guys smiled at her, and at that instance, Sacchan felt a little teary-eyed. She thought that she would never see them again (Sorachi might’ve probably forgotten about them) but there they were, in front of her, grinning ear to ear, obviously happy about their reunion.

“Sacchan, how have you been? It’s been so long since the last time we’ve met, isn’t it?”

“That man—Gin-san was it?—had gotten into some trouble, isn’t he? So, how is it? Have you managed to capture his heart?”

The two men kept on asking her questions, but she did not pay attention to it as her mind had suddenly turned blank. She was speechless. When was the last time she had ever seen those two? As far as she can remember, the last time she had ever seen them was when she was tasked to assassinate Nezumiya and they were both taken captive in the process, and it was at that time when she had met Gin-san. Indeed, it’s been so long that the author bets that no one can remember them anymore.

Sacchan cannot help but to curl her lips into a smile. “W-What are you doing here..? Idiots… that’s really stupid of you guys…”

“Oi, oi, is that what the infamous _Shimatsuya Sacchan_ should say? You’re still our boss, so no matter what happens, we’ll help you out,” said one of them, into which the other one responded with a nod. And at this, Sacchan felt better, and her resolve slowly came back.

She proceeded into her fighting stance, her kunais taking refuge on both of her hands, and stood beside her former comrades in the Oniwabanshuu.

It was then when someone threw a kunai right in front of them.

“Ah, my bad. You see, I’m busy reading my JUMP right here so I’m really surprised that there is some kind of an Oniwaban get-together. Not that I’m really interested or anything, but—”

The suspicious guy, with bushy hair and a hair color akin to that of a chestnut, leapt right in front of them and got on his feet quickly, as expected of a highly-trained ninja. His eyes were as fierce as ever, even though she knew that no one has ever seen it, given the fact that it was always hidden by his hair. Not that it matters though, since she can’t see it either if she didn’t have her glasses.

Sacchan clicked her tongue. “What are you doing here, Hattori Zenzou?”

The two guys behind Sacchan were surprised as well. One of them even asked, “Why are you here? Do you also intend to protect that man?”

Hattori laughed at this, which confused the other two. Sacchan, on the other hand, was rather indifferent.

“Not really. Actually, I really don’t know much of the details, but it seems that everywhere I go, there’s some kind of fighting going on over that guy,” he replied with a smirk. “So I guess there’s no more escaping it. And since it’s that way, then I guess it’s better to go with the flow and fight as well. Coz seriously, I can’t even read my JUMP in peace with all the ruckus going on. So the faster this is resolved, then the faster that I’ll be able to read my JUMP in peace. I still have to read what happens between Rito-kun and Lala anyway.”

“But isn’t To-LOVE-ru running in SQ? It has become ‘Darkness’ right now, you know!”

Hattori did not budge at this and only threw a kunai towards the guy who had said that. “I also can’t wait what happens to Raku. That guy, he’s been stringing both Chitoge and Onodera on his fingers..”

“I bet Marika is the promised childhood friend!”

“No, it is obviously Tsugumi!”

“It’s Onodera, you idiot!”

“Shut up! I’m rooting for Kirisaki Chitoge!” exclaimed Hattori. He then closed his JUMP and looked at the three, feeling proud of his JUMP-lover status. “I don’t mind rooting for Erina and Tadokoro-chan as well, though I bet _tosh_ ’s art is just perfect for ecchi, and—”

“It’s not _tosh_ , it’s _Saeki Shun_ -sensei! And aren’t Erina and Tadokoro Megumi from another JUMP series?!”

“Shut up! Anyway, I bet that Gintoki doesn’t even know about the existence of the red hat and the presence of ESP among the Kasuga family, so until I’ve proven that I’m superior, I’m not gonna let anyone postpone our fight—”

“Oiiiiiiiiiiiiii! No one here can get that reference anymore! That is way too retro! It’s like saying that Urusei Yatsura is your gateway to anime! Stop being so _whimsical_ , since we aren’t going to the _Orange Road_ anyway!”

Baffled at what just occurred right in front of them, the vigilantes were getting increasingly irritated as they just wanted to get this over with and move on. Unable to take it any longer, one of them pointed at Hattori and called his attention.

“Oi! That Sakata Gintoki isn’t someone important to you anyway, so could you move out of the way? We have no time to waste for the likes of you!”

Hattori was annoyed at this but did not let it show. “Oi, what are you even saying? That guy is an old bud of mine, ya know? He’s my JUMP buddy.” He inwardly cringed at his own words. “We even went through a lot of things together!”

“You’re just making things up! Don’t you just care about your JUMP?!”

“I do,” replied Hattori. “In fact, I and Gintoki are buddies, and we even went to clubs together…

And right at that moment, Hattori remembered about that time when he and Gintoki went to a club… full of _fugly_ women.

_‘Oi! I don’t remember agreeing with you to bring me to a place like this! This is more like a horror house than a club! Are you planning to scar me for life?!’_

“—is what he said, but I know that he’s just being _tsundere._ Later on, I found out from one of my ladies that the guy had already gone to a love hotel and was already getting too cozy with her.”

“Wait a second!” exclaimed Sacchan, attacking Hattori on the eyes with chopsticks full of natto from who-knows-where. “I bet your memory is at fault, Hattori-san. As far as I’m concerned, Gin-san only goes to a love hotel…. together with _me!_ ”

The two Oniwabanshuu behind her only shouted, “No, that’s not it either!”

But Sacchan did not take heed of it, as expected. She continued on fantasizing about Gintoki, and even made a perverted-looking face as she tried to recall her ‘memories’.

“That’s right. The person that Gin-san goes with into a love hotel is no other than me, Sacchan! Ah, Gin-san~ I remember when he pushed (kicked) me towards the bed and went away for a shower, ah, he was just so—”

And right at that moment, memories of her sneaking into the bathroom to peek at him resurfaced into her mind. She was disappointed that the room was sealed shut that she was unable to see anything from the steam, but as soon as she saw his clothes in the corner, she didn’t even think twice and tried it on.

 _‘Ah, it’s so big and loose!’_ she exclaimed, sniffing the clothes in order to smell Gin-san. The clothes were still warm, and it still had his body heat. And in a pile of clothes on the floor, she found his precious strawberry boxers and without a second thought, she picked it up and—

“OIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! Stop that nonsense!” exclaimed their enemies, who were quite visibly pissed off on what just happened. “We don’t need your friggin’ flashbacks, as all that we’ve gotten from those was that Sakata Gintoki is just a rotten horny bastard and—”

The guy who said that was unable to continue what he was saying as he found himself unconscious, being struck on the head with a kunai. The others found themselves under the same fate a few seconds later.

Sacchan had just beaten all their enemies into a pulp. Alone.

“I’ll never forgive anyone who sullies Gin-san’s name. He… he isn’t like that at all. That man… he’s really important to me.”

She clenched her fists and adjusted her glasses, and gave them a proud look.

“It’s because Gin-san is the S to my M.”

**XOXOXOX**

“Now do you get it?” asked Tae as she tightened her hold on her naginata and inched closer to the other party. “All your efforts are useless. That’s why, as much as possible, I advise you to leave.”

And as soon as she said that, people throughout Kabuki-chou appeared behind her—such as Hasegawa Taizou and Kishin Mademoiselle Saigou, among others—and defended Gintoki. Knowing that they are outnumbered and they couldn’t possibly win against all that people, the roju’s supporters started to retreat one by one, running for their lives.

“I repeat: leave Kabuki-chou at once. You won’t find what you’re seeking for in here. And I won’t let you take a step from here either. No matter what happens, no matter how much you frame Gin-san on such matters, you’ll never sever the bonds he’d made with us.”

They were unable to do anything in front of Shimura Tae, as she stood there in full glory with a naginata on her hand.

“Get your asses off my territory. Anyone who messes with the _queen_ of Kabuki-chou… will surely be punished.”

**XOXOXOX**

Kintoki stared at the spectacle before him, and was speechless at the events that occurred just now. Indeed, Tama was right. He cannot deny that, especially with what he’d witnessed.

“Have you given it some thought?” asked Tama, who now stood next to him. “Are you willing to do it now, Sakata Kintoki?”

The golden-haired robot did not say a word. He continued on staring at the vast space outside the clear glass wall, and watched the citizens of Edo as they went on with their lives.

Tama took this positively and inched herself closer to the wall, tracing her fingers against it. “I’m sure that you’ve seen it already—everything. No matter where Gintoki-sama goes, even if everyone may turn against him, even if everyone forgets about him, even if he’s the only one left in this world, no matter how hard it is, he’ll still value everyone, he’ll still protect everyone—and that is the reason why his silver light can never be extinguished. Gintoki-sama is the silver light that covers Kabuki-chou and Edo as a whole. You’ve already learned this the hard way back then, didn’t you?”

Kintoki smirked at the notion. Indeed, he did learn it the hard way, there’s no escaping that fact.

“The silver light won’t be there forever. I hope you understand that,” he said, into which Tama replied with a nod. “There will always be gold against the silver. And one day, everything will be colored into gold. But I understand. I’ll let you guys off this time.”

And amid Tama’s declarations of gratitude, Sakata Kintoki started on what he was supposed to do there right at that moment—his memory modification on all the citizens of Edo.

**XOXOXOX**

“What did you just say, Tsukuyo-dono? You mean the place where that Uehara Zennosuke was hiding was just there, right under our noses?”

Tsukuyo responded with a nod to that sudden question made by the Nobleman of Fury, Katsura Kotarou. She had just told both Gintoki and Katsura about the fact that she had found where Uehara was, and as expected, both were flabbergasted by this fact. They were now inside a transport vehicle headed towards the village where they were staying, and they left in a hurry as soon as they heard that announcement about the presence of an intruder inside the quarters.

Only an hour had passed ever since they left the Sonjouroushi headquarters, and just a little bit more than an hour ever since that incident that happened between her and Gintoki. She still cannot forget that Gintoki had accused her of dating Katsura, and thus she took a peek at the silver-haired Yorozuya while she was talking with the other guy.

And as soon as she saw his indifferent expression, she clicked her tongue in irritation. _Didn’t he even remember what happened earlier? Was it nothing and I’m just the only one making a big deal out of this?_

“Tsukuyo-dono..?”

With Katsura’s inquiries bringing her back to her senses, Tsukuyo tried to convince herself that now wasn’t the right time to think about the reasons behind Gintoki’s odd behavior earlier. Right now, she decided to concentrate on the fact that they had just made a step forward towards their goal, and that’s what she should think about right now, Gintoki be damned.

“I am not sure if that’s where Uehara was hiding, but there’s no denying the fact that I’ve found him there. However, I think that my presence was discovered, since as soon as I’ve confirmed that it was him, an alarm about the presence of an intruder got out.”

“This is bad,” grunted Katsura. “Now that they are aware of our presence, I am positive that they’re expecting our attack sooner or later. It might be difficult for us to find his whereabouts in case he goes into hiding again.” He then looked at Gintoki, who was currently picking his nose with his pinky. “What do you think, Gintoki? What should we do?”

“Don’t ask me, I don’t know anything about tactical planning,” he replied as he flicked the booger on his finger towards Katsura. “Well, we can always do a surprise attack on them tomorrow, if you ask me.”

“Hmph, I guess that’s to be expected of you, Gintoki. You sure are reckless.”

“Heh, at least I have the delicacy of telling the truth, Zura.  Unlike you and Tsukki who kept on hiding things from me..”

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura!” He raised an eyebrow at the notion. “And what are you talking about, Gintoki?”

The Yorozuya averted his gaze and looked somewhere else. “Nothing much. Don’t mind it.”

Despite the obvious comment from Gintoki, Tsukuyo paid no attention to it as she tried to figure out how she’ll tell Gintoki and Katsura about the presence of that so-called Takasugi. Being the leader of the Hyakka, she was completely aware of the existence of the legendary leader of the Kiheitai, Takasugi Shinsuke. Gintoki himself also confirmed not too long ago about his connections with that guy. And thus, that fact only made it harder for her to tell them about this. She didn’t know what exactly their relationship was as of now, but she can feel that it wasn’t all that pleasant.

But she had to tell them eventually. She just have to find the right timing.

She grumbled to herself. _Ah, I’ve had enough. I’ll tell them about this—_

“Tsukuyo-dono? What’s the matter?”

Katsura’s voice brought her back once again to her senses, as she realized that she had become lost-in-thought a lot of times as of late. Much to her surprise, he inched himself closer to her in worry, and even brought his hand to her forehead in order to check if she has a fever. Remembering Gintoki’s earlier accusations, she looked at him at the corner of her eye, only to be disappointed as he looked completely indifferent, and only stared at her with his dead fish eyes.

_That guy… why is he acting like that..?_

Heaving a deep sigh, Tsukuyo resigned to herself and took the gamble. “Actually, I have one more thing to tell you guys,” she trailed off, her tone decreasing in volume by the second. “I’ve also heard that your comrade, Takasugi Shinsuke, was there as well.”

As soon as they’ve heard that name, both Gintoki and Katsura let out a surprised expression.

“Takasugi is _not_ my comrade,” growled Gintoki. “Don’t lump us together with that guy.”

“Takasugi? Why am I not surprised..?” said Katsura, as a serious atmosphere started to loom about the whole area, making Tsukuyo uncomfortable. “I should’ve known. The Sonjouroushi was just an unknown faction as of late, and for them to rise in power at such a short span of time is just impossible… unless they had the support of some powerful guys. That explains it.”

“If we go on with that trail of thought, this might also mean that there is a huge possibility that the Kiheitai and the Sonjouroushi are behind the death of the roju,” proposed Tsukuyo. “Or better yet, we can say that the Sonjouroushi are under orders from the Kiheitai, although it’s too early to be making that kind of conclusion.” She turned to face the silver-haired samurai in front of her. “What do you think, Gintoki?”

He had a serious expression on his face, but did not say another word aside from, “I don’t know. It can be like what you’ve said, most likely. We’re talking about Takasugi here, after all.”

“Actually, I’ve heard Takasugi having a conversation with Uehara. They’re even talking about something related to the assassination of the Shogun.”

“Shogun, huh?” trailed off Gintoki, amused. “I guess the roju wasn’t enough for them at all.”

Katsura chuckled at this. “We’re talking about Takasugi here, after all. That’s to be expected.”

And as if reading the suffocating mood between the three of them, the vehicle that they are riding on suddenly stopped, which meant that they have finally arrived at the village. Zura then excused himself and told the two to stay there for a little while as he still had something to check out—which of course made the atmosphere between the two of them even more awkward and suffocating.

Tsukuyo and Gintoki only stared outside in silence, and did not even try to make eye contact. That incident that happened earlier still fresh on their minds, they waited for the other to make the first move—that is, to be the first one to initiate a conversation—but nothing of the sort happened. They continued on staring outside the window as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, and did not even do anything that may break the status quo.

Right after Gintoki hugged her tightly from behind, he left in silence without saying a word, much to her confusion. When she tried to go after him and talk to him, he would not even respond, or would either dodge the question or talk as if something like that never happened between them.

Needless to say, she was getting tired of this. She wanted the comfortable and soothing closeness that they have to be back. This kind of awkwardness between the two of them is unwelcomed, and she will do everything just to make things between the two of them return to what it was. But first… _why is Gintoki so unresponsive?_

Steeling her resolve, she took a glance at Gintoki, only to find out that he was staring at her as well.

To put it simply, their eyes have met.

And just like what she expected, Gintoki tried to avoid this increasing awkwardness between them by giving her yet another one of his awkward-looking smiles as he said that he’ll be going first. She tried to call out to him, but he was already out of her sight when she decided to do that. She sighed in exasperation.

  _Why is he being so difficult?_ She just couldn’t understand any of his actions as of late, and even though she wanted to fix everything, he just kept on dodging the subject. But it’s not like he himself isn’t doing anything to fix this mess. He tried his hardest to act like nothing ever happened in an attempt to bring back the comfortable atmosphere that they have whenever they’re together, but somehow despite all his efforts everything still doesn’t seem right.

 To be precise, he’d been acting as if _absolutely nothing ever happened_ and it pissed her off, big time. He’d been acting too indifferent as if that incident that happened earlier was nothing at all, but damn it, it _wasn’t nothing_ to her! It was something big, and the fact that he was treating it as if it wasn’t important at all infuriated her!

 She grumbled in frustration. “Ah, damn it… why do I feel like this…?”

 She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind from any distractions. Indeed, this was really unlikely of her to be like this, but she just couldn’t help it. That act made by Gintoki surprised her so much, and yet she was making such a big deal out of it. It’s probably nothing for him, and thus he acted as if nothing really happened. If that’s the case, then she understood. She should also treat it as nothing, actually.

 But she couldn’t. She can’t do it. She’s having a hard time doing so. And the biggest question is: _Why couldn’t she do it?_

If such a thing happened before she had met Gintoki, she would probably beat up the guy and treat it off as a perverted act. If something like this was done by someone else, she would have probably unleashed hell upon him. But since it was done by Gintoki, it mattered so much to her. But why? Why does it have to matter? Did she expect something else to happen? Did she want him to be affected by this as well?

 She _did_. She wanted him to be affected by this. That’s why it pissed her off so much that he was acting as if something like that wasn’t important.

 Feeling exhausted, she closed her eyes and sighed, and leaned her head against the window. She can still remember it clearly. The way his breath had tickled her skin, the warmth of his every touch, his intoxicating manly scent, the way he had held her in his arms, which was both tight and gentle and that she could not help but to—

“Aaaaaah, what the hell is wrong with me?! Why the hell am I acting like a maiden on the brink of her first love? This is so not happening!”

And with that, she slapped herself on the face, hoping that these disgusting girly thoughts will go away. She’d stopped being a woman a long time ago. She won’t break her resolve just because of some good-for-nothing guy. She’s not in love with him at all!

..Well, she does _see_ him that way. Just a little bit. A tiny little bit. But it doesn’t mean that she’ll go back into being a woman just for him! No way!

“Ah, onee-san! Why haven’t you come down? The food is ready!”

That voice startling her out of her thoughts, Tsukuyo looked behind her and saw Chiyo, the young girl which she had saved a few days ago. She was beaming happily at her, and she felt a little bit better at this.

“Thanks, Chiyo. I’ll be going down soon, just wait for me,” she replied.

The young girl nodded in agreement and went up the vehicle, much to Tsukuyo’s surprise.

“C-Chiyo..? Why did you—”

“Onee-san, you and Gin-oniisan are _lovers_ , aren’t you?” she asked innocently, and the Shinigami Tayuu grimaced on how that girl easily said ‘ _lovers’_ without even a hint of hesitation. Being his girlfriend would already bring her a lot of embarrassment, but to be even called as his lover is a little bit—

“C-Chiyo-chan, i-it isn’t like that at all. You see, Gintoki and I are—”

“But okaa-san said that you were!” the girl protested. “Okaa-san said that you and Gin-oniisan even slept into the same room yesterday, and did things that are usually done in Yoshiwara!”

Tsukuyo turned a deep shade of red at the mention of this. “What the hell are you trying to imply?! Dammit, Gintoki and I aren’t like that! And your mom must’ve been mistaken!” she exclaimed in extreme embarrassment. They weren’t really hiding it, but she didn’t expect that the fact that they have accidentally slept in the same room would be known by people outside. How can she even let her face be shown now? “Although I’m amused that you know about Yoshiwara. I’m from there, you wanna try going there?”

“Nuh-uh. But onee-san, if you and Gin-oniisan aren’t lovers, then what are you?”

She did not know how to respond to such a question. In fact, she herself did not know what she really was to Gintoki, and heck, even she did not know what Gintoki was to her!

“T-That question is a little bit hard to answer,” replied Tsukuyo, not knowing what to reply. “I guess... we are friends, comrades… we share the same goals and such…”

“But the two of you aren’t acting like friends, onee-san,” said Chiyo, which made the kunoichi completely speechless. “You two act like an old married couple. You even call him by his first name without any honorifics, and he does the same to you. Okaa-san said that _yobisute_ is a proof of your closeness with a person!”

Tsukuyo gave an awkward chuckle. True, she and Gintoki both refer to each other by their first names, but that doesn’t really mean anything. Or does it?

“T-That’s just your imagination, there’s nothing of such sort. There’s nothing between me and Gintoki.”

“Is that so…? But I hope you two become as such. Chiyo really likes the both of you!” she exclaimed, and much to Tsukuyo’s surprise, had even given her a hug. “You know, Gin-oniisan acts like he does not want to play with me, but he actually plays with me a lot! I really like him!”

Faced with such a statement, Tsukuyo cannot help but to let out a smile. She knew that Gintoki was good with children and people naturally flock to him, as seen with the presence of both Shinpachi and Kagura, but for a child as young and innocent as her to take a liking to him in such a short time… that was really surprising.

Her smile never faltering, Chiyo then went down the vehicle and bid Tsukuyo goodbye, that the latter cannot help but to notice how cute the young girl was. It was roughly a few days since the first time she had ever met the girl, and the look she had before as compared to now was completely different.

“Onee-san! Don’t forget to think about what I’ve said to you okay?” shouted Chiyo from afar, and Tsukuyo chuckled at this.

She sighed.

“What you’ve said to me… huh? W-What is this feeling, I wonder? Am I… am I really… _Am I really in love with him?_ ”

Shaking such thoughts out of her mind, she decided to cool off her head for a minute and went down the vehicle, opting to walk around for some fresh air. And as if her feet had a mind of its own, she went towards the direction of the nearby river downtown.

And right at that moment, memories of Gintoki ran across her mind.

She remembered the way they had first met. He acted all cool in order to save Seita, but if it weren’t for her follow-ups, then he would’ve lost face right there and then. He kept on telling her how much of a good person she was, but seriously, she’s just doing what she’s gotta do.

She remembered the first promise she had ever made with him. He promised her the sun and the freedom that they’ve always wished for and even took her kiseru as a collateral, but he still made it. He fulfilled his promise.

 She remembered the first time he had ever protected her. He took Housen’s attack that was supposed to be for her, and right at that moment, she knew that she had finally found someone whom she can trust, whom she can finally lean on. She knew that he will watch her back, and in turn, she will watch his.

 She remembered how he brought back the sun to Yoshiwara. Caged like a bird under the rule of Housen, her people had always wanted to see it. Even she herself wasn’t all that familiar with its warm, soothing light. But thanks to him, she can finally see how beautiful it was. The days of the never-ending moonlight were finally over.

 She remembered how he groped her breasts when she was trying to prove herself to him that she was a woman no more. Before that, she had always thought that something like that wouldn’t affect her, but she was terribly wrong.

 She remembered how they were left with no choice but to act like a married couple when they went to infiltrate the Benigumoto. She even went along with the Dia and Block joke that he’d made, though the other members still ended up being skewered by her kunai anyway.

 She remembered how she declared that his presence weakens her resolve. She was really serious when she said that, but he had brushed it off as nothing and stayed in order to protect her.

 She remembered how he suffered and got beaten up by her _shishou._ Her heart broke since she thought that she’ll never see him again, but as usual, he had proven her wrong as he managed to reappear a few hours later.

 She remembered how he had saved her from the hands of her master, Jiraia. He held her gently in his arms as he freed her from the spider’s web, and even told her something she’ll never forget. He told her that she can cry to him whenever she got problems, and he’ll do the same—and never had anyone said such a thing to her.

 She remembered how she had beaten the hell out of him on her drunken stupor back when Hinowa had set her up with him inside the zashiki. He was trembling and was doing everything that he can in order to escape her wrath, but he was still unable to do a thing.

 She remembered how he told her that she was beautiful and had a beautiful soul. Those words brought her out of her depression, and at that moment, she realized that she had started to see that silver-haired guy in an entirely new light.

 She remembered how depressed she was when she learned that he was already married to Sarutobi. Hinowa and Seita kept on teasing her about the subject, though she cannot deny the happiness that she’d felt when she learned that those pictures turned out to be fake.

 She remembered the times which she had spent together with his friends. Thanks to him, she was able to know a lot of people. Those things that happened during Valentines, the Patriot Factory, how she acted as if she was a part of his harem, how she got involved with the Diamond Perfume, when she made a visit to Takahamagara, and many more—if it weren’t for him, those great memories wouldn’t even exist.

 She remembered how she cried for him back when her memories were modified by an impostor. Even though she did not remember who he was, she knew that her heart still remembered him completely.

 She remembered how worried she was when she had seen him being shot by that Mimawarigumi bastard. Her mind full of worry for him, she was about to be struck down if it weren’t for his timely interruption.

 She remembered the night when Hinowa and Suzuran had told her about the promise that the latter had made. Suzuran told her that ‘good men always keep their promises’ and his face immediately came to her mind, much to her surprise.

 She remembered how she realized that he would really make a good woman once he changed genders. His charm was so irresistible that even she could not help but to act flirty with her, even though she also turned into a handsome man herself.

 She remembered the times when the both of them had their nightly chats when she was still staying at the Yorozuya. She realized that she looked forward to it every night, and even she felt as if the distance between them was slowly decreasing bit by bit.

 She remembered how helpless she felt when she witnessed the three Yorozuya argue with each other. She knew how important those two were to him, and it hurt her so much to see him so down.

 She remembered when she followed him to Hagi and even had an argument with him. She did all those things out of impulse and she did not even think of the consequences, and yet he came back and even reached out his hand to her amid the falling rain.

 She remembered the feeling of being covered by his warm embrace as they slept in the same futon. He even took care of her right after she had gotten sick, and she felt as if she saw a part of him which could not be seen by anyone else.

 She remembered how he saved her from a near-death experience. They even shared his kimono and even used it as a blanket, and right at that moment, she knew that she was extremely happy to see him again.

 And now… he did that thing from earlier. She knew that she shouldn’t really think much about that, since it was just a freakin’ hug, but somehow, what he did felt really different.

 She might sound really ridiculous, but she felt as if he was trying to convey his emotions into that simple gesture. He held her gently as if she was some kind of fragile glass that would break if not handled well, and he also held her so tight as if he had no intentions of letting her go. He felt as if he was extremely possessive of her, even.

 But aside from all of that, she felt as if she was really important to him, even for a short little while. And because she felt the same for him, such an action is a big deal for her.

 She won’t deny it. He is important to her. Never had a man ever made her feel like this. Never had anyone outside Hinowa and Seita mattered to her like this. He appeared to her like a flash of lightning, making his appearance in a short notice, and yet he blew her away, he took all of her attention, introduced her to a lot of things, made her experience a lot of things which she had never experienced before, made her feel a lot of emotion which she had never felt before.

 He gave her the freedom which she never had before.

 He was the only one who could make her feel protected, and he’s the only one whom she trust to watch her back.

 He was the sole one that made her feel better for being herself, and the only one who reached a hand out to her when she was feeling lost and weary.

 And if she were to lose him, she’ll probably lose herself completely as well.

 Is this what they call love? Do all of these things mean that she loves him? In fact, she’s not even sure of it herself. She knows that she values him a whole lot, but she isn’t even sure if it’s supposed to be taken in a romantic sense. Was it really like that?

 Much to her surprise, fate just knew how to play with her as she found herself staring at the object of her affections—Sakata Gintoki. He was sitting by the riverbank by himself, watching the sunset in its full glory, the orange hue making his handsome features even more distinguished.

 She only had her mouth agape as she stared at the scene before her. She did not even dare to say a word, and she did not have any plans on revealing herself. As of now, she’s contented by watching him from afar.

Right at that moment, she realized that she couldn’t deny it anymore.

 _She’s in love with him._ She’s in love with that silver-haired, penniless idiot named Sakata Gintoki.

And she probably loved him for a long time now, and it only took her now to finally admit it to herself.

 

 **『つづく** **』**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nezumiya – that rat-like Amanto that appeared during Sacchan’s introductory episode.
> 
> Rito – Yuuki Rito, the protagonist from To-LOVE-ru.
> 
> Lala – Lala Deviluke, a character from To-LOVE-ru.
> 
> SQ – Jump SQ (Jump Square), a monthly shounen magazine published by Shueisha.
> 
> Darkness – a reference to To-LOVE-ru Darkness, the sequel to the original series that now runs on SQ.
> 
> Raku – Ichijou Raku, the protagonist of the ongoing love comedy JUMP manga, Nisekoi.
> 
> Kirisaki Chitoge, Onodera, Marika, Tsugumi – the female leads in Nisekoi.
> 
> Erina, Tadokoro Megumi – female characters from the ongoing cooking JUMP manga, Shokugeki no Souma.
> 
> Tosh / Saeki Shun – a hentai manga artist under the name tosh who now works as the artist for Shokugeki no Souma under the name Saeki Shun.
> 
> “I bet that Gintoki doesn’t even know about the existence of the red hat and the presence of ESP among the Kasuga family.” – a reference to Kimagure Orange Road, a romantic comedy series from the 80’s that ran in Shounen Jump. The red hat refers to the same red hat worn by Ayukawa Madoka when she had first met the protagonist, Kasuga Kyousuke. The Kasuga family, by the way, are espers.
> 
> Urusei Yatsura – a very popular manga and anime series by Rumiko Takahashi which ran in Weekly Shounen Sunday from 1979 till mid-80’s. Well, I could’ve used Takahashi’s other work, Ranma 1/2, as the one in the reference, but I’ve decided to use this instead since it’s much older, even though the year of Kimagure Orange Road’s publication is closer to Ranma.
> 
> Whimsical – whimsical is the direct translation of “kimagure”, which is also a reference to Kimagure Orange Road.
> 
> Orange Road – a Kimagure Orange Road reference, obviously.
> 
> Lovers and girlfriend part in Tsukuyo and Chiyo’s conversation – What I really wanna express here is that if it’s in Japanese, then it will be aijin and koibito, respectively. Both words have love in their meaning but with a slight difference. Koibito is boyfriend / girlfriend, whereas aijin literally means a lover. Koibito may or may not have any sexual connotation, while aijin (which is closer to having an affair with someone, though it might also be used when referring to your wife / husband) has a sexual connotation. So yeah, you now know what I mean. 
> 
> Yobisute – the act of addressing someone without an honorific title (-san, -sama, etc.) and may be considered rude even in the most informal and friendly occasions. Well, it can also be said that one can measure how close people are to one another if they call them by their first names, since Japanese usually refer to people by their surnames. People who call each other by their first names without any honorific can also be taken as proof on how close they are with each other.


End file.
